Trial for man charged with killing teenage girlfriend set for mid-June

RIVERSIDE - A Riverside County Superior Court judge Tuesday scheduled a trial for a Riverside man accused of fatally shooting his 15-year- old girlfriend for mid-June.

Benjamin James Boatman, 23, could get 50 years to life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder, as well as sentence-enhancing allegations of using a gun and causing great bodily harm.

Rebecca Marth was fatally shot in the head on March 18, 2010.

Boatman, jailed on $1 million bail, also is charged with possessing an outlawed gun and selling pot.

Lawyers in the case recently told Judge James Warren they would be ready for trial by June 15. Jury selection was expected to start between then and June 24.

Riverside police arrested Boatman on suspicion of recklessly discharging a firearm two days before the killing. He posted a $50,000 bond and was released, going back to his home in the 4300 block of Linwood Place, authorities said.

Hours later, Marth joined him there and, for reasons still unclear, the defendant allegedly shot her in the head.

Neighbors alerted police, who arrested Boatman without a struggle. Marth died on the spot. The two had dated about a year.

In Boatman’s home, officers seized a handgun, a shotgun, some pot, scales for weighing it and other drug paraphernalia, according to police.