By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
NILES, MI – Tragic accident or murder. That was the choice before Berrien County Trial Court jurors Monday in the Rene Lopez Alvarado case, and they came down on the side of murder.
The jury of six men and six women took less than three hours to come back with their verdict of guilty of first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Alvarado is scheduled to be sentenced before Berrien County Trial Judge Gordon Hosbein on April 27. Judge Hosbein presided over the four day trial that concluded Monday.
Alvarado, 33, of South Bend was arrested July 21, 2025 and was arraigned on the two felony charges of open murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony two days later. He faces a penalty of life in prison without parole on the first-degree murder charge and a consecutive two years in prison on the felony firearm charge.
Berrien County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to the Franklin Woods mobile home park, 1950 S. 13th St., on July 21 on reports of a deceased woman inside a home. The woman found dead was identified as 29 year old Courtney Hershberger. The autopsy indicated that she died of a gunshot wound to her head.
Alvarado didn’t testify during the trial at the Niles courthouse but jurors did hear the interviews he gave to Berrien County Sheriff’s Department officers after Hershberger’s death. More than two dozen witnesses were called by the prosecution during the course of the trial, while defense attorney Carri Briseno did not call any witnesses.
According to testimony, it was Alvarado who made the initial 9-1-1 call to police. He initially claimed that he found Hershberger dead when he came to her home that day in the early afternoon. He later admitted he had been there in the overnight hours during which time he said he had accidently killed her.
Berrien County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Cortney O’Malley painted a much different picture during closing arguments Monday morning. She led jurors through the charges and through what the evidence showed. “The defendant wanted the police to believe one set of facts but his lies led them to the truth,” she said.
She called it “super clear” that it was first-degree murder, noting that Alvarado brought the loaded gun without the safety on to Hershberger’s house, took it into her bedroom where they talked and she was shot and gathered up evidence from her home which he later disposed of at his home.
“The defense will try to convince you that it was an accident,” she said. “How unlucky for him that he brought a gun he had never taken to her house before, that he had been drinking, that he didn’t realize the gun was loaded with the safety on and that he set it on bed where he had to put eight pounds of pressure on trigger for it to go off. If he did all that accidentally, he’s the unluckiest person in the world. This was not an accident.”
Briseno argued that Hershberger’s death was a tragic accident that Alvarado didn’t intend. “His lies after the fact don’t equate to premeditation and deliberation,” she said.
In another case, a Niles man was sentenced to prison after meeting an underage girl online and bringing her from her home in Alma, Michigan, to his trailer near Niles where she stayed for three months.
Nathaniel Alexander Peters, 25, of Leet Road near Niles, pleaded guilty to third degree criminal sexual conduct against a person 13 to 15 years old and was sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison with credit for 147 days served and $1,048 in fines and costs. He must register as a sex offender and have no contact with anyone under age 18.
Peters was arrested last October after police came to his trailer to investigate a missing Alma, Michigan teen. The teen who was 14 said that she had met Peters on Snapchat and that he brought her to his home where they had sexual relations over three months. She also said they had shared sexually explicit photos and videos.
Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz acknowledged that Peters had had a difficult childhood with his mother killing his father and being abused himself. “He hasn’t had the easiest of lives but he has to become a man and be responsible for his actions,” he said. “He changed her life forever and took her away from her parents.”
Defense attorney Nicholas Hogue asked for a lower prison sentence, noting Peters’ childhood and untreated psychological problems. “He has two young children; the trajectory of his life is not fixed in stone,” he said.
“I have had a lot of time to think about what I’d say to you,” Peters told Cass County Circuit Court Judge Mark Herman. “What I did was wrong, I can’t lie. I just ask that you show mercy and forgiveness. I should have thought about my kids, but I didn’t realize what I had until it was gone.”
“You said she told you she was 19 and you brought her here for sex,” Judge Herman said. “Once you met, you would know she’s not 19. She had been there for three months. You also admitted you had sexually explicit photos and videos.”
“Now you’re 25 years old and I was deeply concerned reviewing your history,” he said. “You were in Berrien County Juvenile Court for criminal sexual conduct when you were 12 and you had another CSC charge when you were 15, where you were sentenced to probation in adult court. Your probation was revoked a year later, and you were sentenced to prison.”
“You were paroled at age 21 and now you are here again for CSC plus you have a pending charge for failure to register in Berrien County,” the judge said. “It looks like you don’t care about the law or what society expects. You drove three hours to pick up a 14 year old girl. You had six hours to think about your decision and we can see what direction you took.”