OKC man receives 25 year sentence for second degree murder

A judge sentenced a Oklahoma City man to prison Friday morning for his connection to a 2010 Logan County murder.

With family members inside the courtroom wiping tears away, Alejandro Manuel Cowns, 24, heard his fate of 25 years in prison with the last 10 years suspended. He must serve at least 85% of the sentence.

Cowns pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second degree murder after originally being charged with first degree in August 2o11. With the lesser charge, Cowns faced a minimum of 10 years to life in prison.

Both Cowns and Juan Bernardo Garcia, 22, pleaded guilty to the death of  24-year-old Abraham Russell of Oklahoma City in August 2010.

Russell’s body was discovered by a passerby lying in a ditch near Henney Road and Charter Oak. Russell’s manner of death was ruled as being from a gunshot wound.

Investigators got their lead when they found a cell phone in the area that came back to Cowns.

Cowns and Bernardo are believed to have conspired together to extort an excess of $20,000 from Russell by using force after high-ranking drug officials asked them to do so.

Garcia pleaded guilty to first degree murder in February 2012. He was also given a 25 year sentence with the last 10 suspended with good behavior.