Man Accused of Murdering LA Sheriff's Sgt. Owen Had a Lengthy Record

Law enforcement and Fire Department personnel transport the shooting suspect in Lancaster. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Law enforcement and Fire Department personnel transport the shooting suspect in Lancaster. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Law enforcement and Fire Department personnel transport the shooting suspect in Lancaster. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has identified the Lancaster man accused of murdering LA Sheriff’s Sergeant Steve Owen yesterday in California. Authorities say the suspect, 27-year-old Trenton Trevon Lovell, who was arrested after the shooting and being held without bail on suspicion of murder, resided in an apartment in the area where the break-in occurred.

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The suspect — who was reported to have a “hot temper” — had a lengthy criminal record and a history of violent offenses, according to court documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

He was sentenced to six years in prison after his 2009 conviction in an armed robbery of a USC community safety officer. Lovell was on parole for that offense at the time he was suspected of shooting Owen, the Times reported.

Prior to that, he had entered a no contest plea in July 2008 on a charge of resisting arrest; he was sentenced to 90 days in jail, L.A. County Superior Court records obtained by the Times showed.

Lovell also pleaded no contest to drunken driving and causing injury to another person in September 2015. In that case, he was ordered to complete a nine-month program for first offenders and undergo drug and alcohol counseling, according to the newspaper.

He had a court appearance related to the 2015 case scheduled for Oct. 24.

Lovell allegedly shot Sgt. Owen in the face as the officer arrived on the scene of a service call Wednesday afternoon.

A woman who identified herself as Lovell’s mother spoke briefly at the apartment where he had been staying, saying she was praying for the sergeant’s family. She said the shooting has devastated her own family, especially her daughter, with whom Lovell had been living.

“You can’t control another person’s actions,” she said. “He’s still my son, and I love him regardless,” she said shortly before closing the door.

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“He’s a nice person when he wants to be,” said Lovell’s aunt, Deborah Matute. “When he don’t get himself in trouble, he’s a nice guy.”

53-year-old Steve Owen, who had a 29-year career in law enforcement and was a medal of valor recipient, is survived by wife Tania, his sons Chad and Brandon, stepdaughter Shannon and his mother Millie.

No comments have been made by the Black Lives Matter movement, either acknowledging the fact that Sergeant Owen’s life mattered or that law enforcement apprehended Lovell and did not shoot the armed black man after he (allegedly) murdered their brother.

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