EL RIO : Boy Gets Life Term in Shooting of Woman

A 17-year-old boy who shot his girlfriend’s mother in the head four times was sentenced Friday to life in prison for attempted murder.

Nathan Marsh of Lompoc, who had five years added to his sentence for using a firearm, will be eligible for parole in seven years, Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew J. Hardy said.

Marsh will be housed at the California Youth Authority until he is 25. He will then be transferred to a state prison, and will be on parole for life once he is released, Hardy said.

Marsh pleaded guilty to attempting to murder Catherine Beverford, 34, of El Rio while she was driving him and her 13-year-old daughter near her home. Beverford survived the shooting when none of the bullets penetrated her skull.

Hardy said Beverford 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 and dropped her off. He and the girl then left in Beverford’s van.

The pair were arrested a few days later in Northern California after a police chase. Marsh also pleaded guilty to shooting at law enforcement officers who tried to arrest him.

Beverford’s daughter, whose name is being withheld because of her age, was sentenced to the CYA in June for her part in the crime. Hardy said at the time that the girl wanted to kill her mother as revenge for a troubled childhood.

Marsh agreed to the shooting to please his girlfriend, Hardy said.

“He put four slugs in the back of this woman’s head with no more purpose or emotion or motive than it would take for him to step on an ant,” Hardy said.

Deputy Public Defender Howard J. Asher asked for Marsh to be sentenced only to the CYA and released when he turned 25. Superior Court Judge Steven Z. Perren refused the request, saying the crime was too serious to warrant that light a sentence.