SANTA CRUZ, Calif.- Although prosecutors have added a special allegation of attempted robbery to Marcos Chavez's murder, they won't seek the death penalty.
The special allegation would have allowed for the death penalty or life without the possiblity of parole. Prosecutors said there are a number of reasons why they aren't seeking the dealth penalty.
"This is clearly a case where a special circumstance is appropriate and it is unclear at this point how pre-meditated or planned it may have been and those questions frankly may never be answered...Really what the decision is based on is not the seriousness of the offense...Life without the possiblity of parole is an appropriate consequence for his conduct," said assistant district attorney Celia Rowland.
In early December, after receiving several disturbance calls to the address where Marcos Chavez was renting a studio, Capitola police found the body of Aaron Carpenter stabbed multiple times. Investigators said Chavez was still in the backyard when they arrived and arrested him.
Prosecutors said both men were military veterans and had been out together earlier the night of the murder.
The case will resume in April.
