Soldier Sentenced To Jail In Cypress Hotel Killing
SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — A 26-year-old U.S. Army deserter was sentenced to jail Friday for fatally shooting a friend and attempting to murder his father and a second friend at a Cypress motel.
According to the Orange County District Attorney's Office, Steven Matthew LeClaire Jr. was ordered to spend 90 years to life in state prison with a determinate sentence of 11 years and four months in state prison.
He was convicted Aug. 1 of one felony count of second-degree murder and two felony counts of attempted murder for the Feb. 24, 2011 shooting in his Cypress Lodge hotel room.
LeClaire Jr. also faced sentencing enhancements for the personal discharge of a firearm causing death and the personal discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury.
Cypress police officers said that around 9:30 p.m., LeClaire Jr. was inside of his hotel room drinking with his then-42-year-old father, Steven LeClaire Sr.; Marques Murray, 24; and Raymond Eligan, who was 51 at the time of the shooting.
Prosecutors said LeClaire Jr. pointed a firearm at the three men and fired 14 rounds. LeClaire Jr. fatally shot Murray in the arm and chest, attempted to murder his father by shooting several times and attempting to murder Eligan by shooting him in the legs as he attempted to escape.
Authorities said Eligan and LeClaire Sr. survived the attack.
After the shootings, LeClaire Jr. reportedly left his hotel room and safely surrendered to an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer, Cypress police said.
He was formerly stationed in El Paso as an Army specialist and went AWOL on Feb. 5, 2011, just about two weeks before the shooting occurred.
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