LASD Sgt. Steven C. Owen.

The man who murdered Sgt. Steven Owen in Lancaster nearly five years ago entered a guilty plea in open court on Thursday, according to officials.

Trenton Trevon Lovell, 31, pleaded guilty to committing the execution-style killing of Owen, admitting to shooting him multiple times after the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department sergeant responded to a report of a burglary on the 3200 block of West Avenue J-7 on Oct. 5, 2016.

Lovell entered a plea of guilty to the following counts: one count of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, one count of first-degree burglary, person present, and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. Prosecutors had also added two counts each of first-degree residential robbery and false imprisonment by violence.

“Sgt. Owen sacrificed his life to protect the community he served,” District Attorney George Gascón said. “This plea will not bring Sgt. Owen back but will hopefully provide some small measure of peace to his family.”

Lovell also admitted to the special circumstance allegation of murder of a peace officer and special allegations of using a firearm to murder Owen, using a patrol car as a deadly and dangerous weapon during the attempted murder of a second peace officer on the scene, using a knife in a robbery and false imprisonment after he fled from the scene of the murder.

With the charges and enhancements combined, Lovell could be sentenced to life without parole. His sentencing is scheduled for May 17.

Lovell confessed that after having murdered Owen, he then jumped into Owen’s patrol vehicle and crashed into the vehicle of another deputy who had just arrived on the scene to provide Owen with backup.

He fled the collision site, ran into a nearby home and held the residents inside at knifepoint while he robbed them. He was arrested soon after.