A Marine who fled to Mexico shortly before he was charged with killing a pregnant comrade is fighting extradition in a move that prosecutors said could delay or endanger the chances of him going to trial in the U.S.

A North Carolina prosecutor said Monday that Cpl. Cesar Laurean, 21, is appealing to the Mexican courts, arguing that North Carolina's life-without-parole sentence for first-degree murder is barred under the countries' extradition treaty.

Laurean is charged in the slaying of 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, who had worked with him at Camp Lejeune and had accused him of rape. Lauterbach, of Vandalia, Ohio, was eight months pregnant when she disappeared in December.

Laurean fled to Mexico shortly before Lauterbach's burned remains were found in January in Laurean's backyard, and he was arrested in Mexico in April.

In North Carolina, a person convicted of first-degree murder can only be sentenced to death or life without parole.

Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson has already agreed not to seek the death penalty, and a Mexican judge agreed last month to extradite Laurean back to the U.S.

Laurean has appealed that ruling, in part arguing that life without parole is considered cruel and unusual punishment.

Hudson said the argument has been used unsuccessfully in the past, but if the Mexican court sides with Laurean, he could be released from jail. Continued...