Lost La Mesa officer was victim of predator sentenced to 146 years in prison
La Mesa Police Officer Lauren Craven Photo courtesy of La Mesa Police Department Late La Mesa police officer Lauren Craven has been named as one of the casualties of a Hollywood producer who has been sentenced to years to life in prison David Brian Pearce was convicted of first-degree murder for the drug overdose deaths of a model and her friend in Los Angeles along with charges that he sexually assaulted seven other women The Los Angeles Times and the New York Post released that prosecutors acknowledged that Craven a graduate of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles was among the sexual assault sufferers According to the L A Times she crime happened in February while she was a candidate Craven and another man were struck and killed Oct when she left her truck to assist him after a wreck on Interstate Craven was laid to rest Tuesday after a lengthy funeral procession in her honor meanwhile one day after Wednesday s sentencing in the Pearce development another court hearing took place in San Diego this time involving the officer s accused killer Antonio Alcantar the Navy police officer who allegedly drove drunk and killed Craven along with De Veonte Morris pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated Alcantar however has yet to be charged in Morris death According to Deputy District Attorney Spencer Sharpe the assessment into the motorist s death continues due to the complexity of the accident Alcantar was hospitalized for injuries sustained in the crash and later arrested The prosecutor announced his blood-alcohol-level was measured at twice the legal limit more than an hour after the crash In Los Angeles particular of the surviving casualties of Pearce along with the loved ones of a model and her friend he was convicted of killing appeared in court Wednesday or provided victim impact statements They called him a con artist a manipulator and a wolf Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eleanor J Hunter imposed the maximum sentence on Pearce saying he is the worst kind of criminal About the labels the casualties and their loved ones used to describe him she added all of them apply to you Jurors deliberated about days before finding Pearce guilty Feb of the murder charges stemming from the deaths of model and aspiring actress Christy Giles and her friend Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola who were taken to separate hospitals about two hours apart on Nov Giles was already dead when she was taken to Southern California Hospital in Culver City while Cabrales-Arzola an architect was taken to Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Hospital in critical condition Her family took her off life assistance later that month The seven-man five-woman jury also revealed Pearce guilty of three counts of forcible rape two counts of sexual penetration by use of force and one count each of rape of an unconscious person and sodomy by use of force The sexual assault charges involved crimes against seven women between and Jurors also heard from five other women who alleged that they were sexually assaulted by Pearce in addition to the seven casualties named in the sexual assault charges Craven s father David notified NBC San Diego the L A Times shared that his daughter s drink was drugged then when she was unconscious someone applied IV drugs and kept her for a day and a half One of the sexual assault casualties recounted the judge that Pearce is a predator whose actions have caused irreversible harm to so multiple and mentioned he should never have a chance to walk free Another mentioned Pearce s actions have changed my life forever adding that no sentence can un-do the harm Pearce who denied sexually assaulting the seven women and giving the two women the drugs that killed them has remained behind bars since he was arrested in December City News Function contributed to this account
