A California man was convicted of murdering his high school classmate, whose body was never found, after blaming her for getting him expelled.
Owen Skyler Shover, now 23, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Oct. 25 in Riverside County Superior Court. In August, he was found guilty of murder in the 2019 disappearance of his former Moreno Valley High School classmate, 16-year-old Aranda Briones.
“There are many questions left unanswered, none more than where is Aranda?” Judge Timothy J. Hollenhorst asked Shover during his sentencing, according to the Riverside Press-Enterprise.
“Mr. Shover, from what I can tell about you, it appears that you are not capable of feeling remorse, so I do not intend to lecture you on how devastating your actions were in this case. However, there is no question in this court’s mind that you are the face of pure evil.”
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Aranda Briones, 16, was last seen getting into Owen Shover’s car on Jan. 13, 2019. Her body was never found. (Facebook/Justice for Aranda Isabel Briones)
On the morning of Nov. 7, 2017, Shover and Briones decided to skip classes and hang out with a group of friends at a local park. The group was spotted by a sheriff’s school resource officer and fled the area, according to a prosecutor’s trial brief obtained by People.
Shover was allegedly carrying a handgun and gave it to Briones to hide. The officer spotted the girl tossing the weapon into a drainage canal.
The officer detained Briones, and she admitted that the handgun belonged to Shover when she was questioned by school administrators. Both students were expelled over the incident in February 2018, according to the trial brief.
Both teens carried on with their respective educations at other schools, but Shover allegedly remained incensed about his expulsion and what he perceived as Briones’ betrayal.
Briones was last seen getting into a car with Shover on Jan. 13, 2019, according to the trial brief, and was quickly reported missing by her family. Shover had texted Briones the day before, inviting her to join him while he made drug deliveries and “rob[bed] drug dealers,” according to the trial brief.
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Owen Skyler Shover allegedly sent his brother a Facebook message that read, “Be ready for tonight. Get shovels and lighter fluid ready.” (Riverside County Sheriff’s Department)
Within an hour of getting into the car, Briones posted several pictures of herself and Shover together on social media, elated to be with her “homie” who let her do some of the driving.
Some time later, authorities allege Shover picked up his brother Gary and drove into the San Bernadino Mountains, the Press-Enterprise reported.
“Be ready for tonight,” Shover wrote in a Facebook message to his brother, according to the brief. “Get shovels and lighter fluid ready.”
At Owen Shover’s sentencing, Aranda Briones’ friend described her as “a kind spirit and was always joyful, even in the bad moments,” according to the Riverside Press-Enterprise. (Facebook/Justice for Aranda Isabel Briones)
During the ensuing investigation, Briones’ blood was found in Shover’s vehicle, and authorities discovered that he attempted to purchase a weapon through a series of Snapchat, Facebook and other conversations.
Gary Shover was sentenced to 12 months probation in March of this year after pleading guilty to being an accessory after the fact, KESQ reported.
Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin told the City News Service that Owen Shover was a “stone-cold killer,” according to KESQ.
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“On the day of his conviction, he spoke to his grandfather from jail, wondering whether he should ‘get a trophy’ for being a convicted murderer,” Hestrin said. “He has shown no remorse.”
“We are sad about [the sentence] and hopefully the appellate process will find some instructional error or error along the process,” Shover’s attorney, Stephen Allen, told People in a statement.
