A parolee accused of shooting a Los Angeles County sheriff's sergeant in Lancaster and then executing him with four additional shots once he was down has been charged with capital murder and other counts.
Trenton Trevon Lovell was charged in connection with Wednesday's killing of Sgt. Steve Owen.
Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty against the 27-year-old Lancaster man.
Owen, 53, was was killed during a burglary call. Sheriff Jim McDonnell called him the "epitome of what it means to be a peace officer."
McDonnell said the suspected gunman first wounded the lawman and then executed him with four additional shots once he was down.
Owen's mother, adult son and daughter and his wife, who is a detective in the Sheriff Department's Arson/Explosives Detail, were at his bedside when he died, according to the sheriff's department. Owen, who also is survived by another adult son, was a 29-year decorated veteran, authorities said.
The suspect was taken into custody after a manhunt and foot chase through a Lancaster neighborhood. He was hospitalized for treatment of a gunshot wound, investigators said.
