Twentynine Palms man pleads guilty to murder – Redlands Daily Facts

HIGHLAND – A Twentynine Palms man has pleaded guilty to killing 23-year-old Ryan Peters during a drug buy in December 2009 in Highland, according to Superior Court records.

Alcide Levont Walker, 30, pleaded guilty during court proceedings Monday to one count of first-degree murder and a special allegation of discharging a firearm causing death, as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors.

Walker was on trial in San Bernardino Superior Court in the deadly shooting of Peters outside a Fifth Street apartment complex, and also in the shooting and wounding Carl Jerome Benton in May 2009 at a Twentynine Palms apartment complex.

Walker faces 50 years to life in state prison when he is sentenced March 25, Deputy District Attorney Lisa Rogan said.

In court on Jan. 20, prosecutors played the recording of an interview with detectives in which Walker admitted shooting Peters.

The defendant told detectives he went through another man to buy an ounce of methamphetamine from Peters for $550 to $600, according to the interview. But when the drug was later weighed, it came up 10 grams short, he said. Walker went back to Peters to “make it right,” and Peters was shot.

mike.cruz@inlandnewspapers.com