EL RIO : Boy Admits Shooting Girlfriend’s Mother

A 17-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to attempted murder charges in the shooting of his girlfriend’s mother while the woman was driving him in the car.

Nathan Marsh, a Lompoc resident, also admitted shooting at law enforcement officers in Northern California, where he fled with his girlfriend in her mother’s van after the March 7 shooting in El Rio.

He is scheduled for sentencing July 1, Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew J. Hardy said.

Meanwhile, the victim’s 13-year-old daughter is scheduled for sentencing Monday in Juvenile Court for her role in the shooting. The girl earlier pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder and auto theft, Hardy said.

The prosecutor said the girl, whose name is being withheld because of her age, wanted to kill her mother as revenge for a troubled childhood. Marsh agreed to do the shooting because he was in love with the girl, Hardy said.

“She’s the prime mover in this,” Hardy said. “He just kind of went along for the ride.”

Catherine Beverford, 34, of El Rio told police she was stopped at a traffic signal near her home when either her daughter or Marsh, who were sitting in the back seat, shot her.

Hardy said Beverford, who was shot four times in the head, initially believed she was the victim of a drive-by shooting, and Marsh was so surprised the woman did not die that he drove her to a hospital, dropped her off and he and the girl took off in the van.

Marsh decided to plead guilty Thursday, shortly after Superior Court Judge Steven Z. Perren ruled that the teen-ager be prosecuted as an adult.

Hardy said if Marsh receives the maximum prison sentence he will be eligible for parole in 15 years. The girl is expected to be sent to the California Youth Authority, where she probably will be released before her 18th birthday, Hardy said.