Ex-Marine Sentenced for Crash That Killed Passenger During Escondido Police Pursuit

A former Marine who led police on a pursuit that ended in an Escondido crash that killed one of his passengers was sentenced Wednesday to seven years in state prison.

John Eugene Brand, who was a lance corporal based out of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, pleaded guilty to evading causing serious bodily injury for the December 2023 death of 18-year-old Shevondia Compare-Bell.

Brand, 22, was also sentenced Wednesday to more than three years in prison for a South Bay attempted carjacking with a knife. That sentence will run concurrently with the seven-year prison term. Prosecutors said Brand was out on bail in the South Bay case when the deadly chase happened.

Police said that on Dec. 18, Brand was behind the wheel of a stolen pickup that sped away when police responded to reports that a man and two women were shoplifting at Dick’s Sporting Goods on Auto Park Way.

Police chased the truck onto Washington Avenue, where the driver tried to make a high-speed turn onto Fig Street but lost control and collided with a retaining wall.

Compare-Bell died at a hospital from injuries sustained in the crash.

The other passenger was also injured.

Brand ran from the crash scene, but officers found him hiding about a block away, according to police, who said the pickup Brand was driving belonged to the U.S. Marine Corps.