Kaleb Charters, the 18-year-old accused of dropping three people off in the Pleasure Point neighborhood of Santa Cruz, in 2019, to rob and kidnap tech executive and cannabis entrepreneur Tushar Atre, then driving up to the marijuana farm in Los Gatos where he’d worked for Atre—to prepare the crime scene where his former boss would be killed—was convicted of felony murder today.
After a day of deliberation at the Santa Cruz County Superior Courthouse, the jury decided Charters—now several years older—was guilty on all counts, following dramatic closing arguments from Assistant District Attorney Michael McKinney.
“‘Get on the ground! Put your hands behind your back!’” McKinney shouted at the jury Monday afternoon to kick-off his closing argument, recreating the violent events that played out at Atre’s oceanfront home, then up at the rural property in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where the victim was executed and left on the forest floor. “Left him shot four times, stabbed seven.”…