Pearce Sentenced 146 Years for Murders, Rapes

David Brian Pearce was sentenced on Oct. 29 to 146 years to life after a jury in February convicted him of two counts of first-degree murder for the fentanyl-induced deaths of 24-year-old model Christy Giles and 26-year-old Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, and of multiple counts of rape and sexual assault against seven women spanning 2007–2021. Prosecutors said Pearce met the women at a warehouse party on Nov. 13, 2021, brought them to his Beverly Hills apartment and supplied a cocktail of drugs including fentanyl and GHB; Giles was already dead when dropped at a Culver City hospital and Cabrales-Arzola died 11 days later after being left at a West L.A. hospital. Victims testified to drug-facilitated sexual assaults, and prosecutors cited DNA evidence including material found under Cabrales-Arzola’s fingernails. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman called the sentence long-awaited justice and a warning about the devastation caused by fentanyl. Pearce will also be required to register as a lifetime sex offender. Co-defendant Brandt (Brant) Osborn faces a potential retrial after a mistrial on accessory charges.