It is unknown whether self-proclaimed “entertainment professional” David Pearce knew the fate of the women he was prosecuted for drugging and raping over a 14-year period.
What is certain, however, is that one of those women, who turned her sexual assault trauma into a career of service, was not there to witness her sentencing.
Pearce received a 146-year prison sentence Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles Superior Court after being found guilty of first-degree murder in the overdose deaths of model Christy Giles and architect Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, as well as the rape of seven other women between 2007 and 2021.
Among Pearce’s victims was La Mesa Police Officer Lauren Craven, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The 25-year-old officer was struck and killed by a vehicle on Highway 8 near San Diego on October 20.
His connection to the case was first reported by the New York Post.
Read more: Hollywood producer receives almost 150 years in prison for two murders and multiple rapes
Craven was assisting motorists involved in a traffic collision when she was fatally struck. One of those individuals was also killed by the same driver. A suspect has been Arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence..
Craven was honored with a funeral procession from San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium to Skyline Church in Rancho San Diego on Tuesday.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office did not confirm any details other than that Pearce was accused of sexually assaulting Craven in February 2020.
“Someone dropped something in her drink and then when she was unconscious, they gave her IV medication and kept her down for a day and a half,” her father said. David Cravenhe told NBC 7 San Diego.
Read more: Los Angeles man convicted in drug overdose deaths of two women and serial rapes
Afterwards, “she decided right then and there, ‘I’m going to become a police officer,’” he told the outlet.
At the time, Craven was a student at Loyola Marymount University. He graduated in 2023, entered the police academy and joined the La Mesa Police Department in February 2024.
Her father said his 115-pound daughter took about a year off to build strength for the rigors of training.
“It was his dream,” his father said of graduating from the police academy.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.