ALBUQUERQUE — Gov. Bill Richardson on Monday ordered flags to be flown at half-staff through Tuesday in honor of an Albuquerque Marine who was killed while serving in Iraq.

Lance Cpl. Christopher S. Adlesperger, 20, was fatally shot while on patrol Dec. 9 in the volatile Anbar province west of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force.

Adlesperger, who graduated from Eldorado High School, was the eighth New Mexico service member killed in Iraq since the U.S. invasion last year.

“Lance Corporal Adlesperger gave his life bravely while serving our country,” Richardson said Monday in a statement. “I want to express my deep personal condolences to his family and his friends.”

Adlesperger had been awarded the Global War On Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.