Two sentenced in Pittsburg gang homicide where victim’s body was dumped in remote area of Salinas

MARTINEZ — Two Concord men accepted plea deals in a 2020 Pittsburg homicide where the victim’s body was discovered in a remote section of Salinas, court records show.

Shane Loudon, 21, pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and received 15 years in state prison. His co-defendant, Steven Falkenstine, 24, pleaded no contest to robbery and received a five-year prison term. In return, prosecutors dropped murder and gang enhancement charges against both men, records show.

Loudon and Falkenstine were arrested in June 2021 in connection with the shooting death of 19-year-old Malik Pittman. It is believed that Pittman was shot and killed while sitting in a sedan with the two suspects on the 400 block of East Santa Fe Avenue in Pittsburg on Dec. 30, 2020. His body was found the next day in Salinas.

Police alleged that Loudon and Falkenstine arranged to meet with Pittman in what was intended to be a preplanned robbery, and that Loudon shot Pittman in the chest during an altercation inside the vehicle. After the shot was fired, the car sped away from the area with Pittman still inside.

The plea deal was finalized last October, but has not been previously reported. Both Loudon and Falkenstine are incarcerated at North Kern State Prison in Delano, and are eligible for parole in 2031 and 2025 respectively, records show.