1 Gets Prison, 1 Gets Probation in Shooting

A Sylmar man was sentenced to three years in prison and a San Fernando man was placed on probation Wednesday for shooting two men during a domestic dispute, killing one of them.

San Fernando Superior Court Judge Robert D. Frattiane ordered James Mangrobang, 25, to serve the prison sentence for seriously injuring his common-law wife’s brother, Jose Reyes, during an argument on Aug. 19, 1984. Frattiane ordered Timothy Kimmel, who killed Reyes’ 16-year-old brother during the fight, to serve five years’ probation.

According to court records, the Reyes brothers and several companions, armed with tire irons, pitchforks, and bumper jacks, were trying to stop Mangrobang from moving his belongings out of his Sylmar house.

After the group attacked Mangrobang during his initial attempt to claim the items, he asked police to help him move, a probation report said. When police refused, he asked Kimmel to return to the house with him, the report said.

When they arrived and began moving furniture, Mangrobang’s common-law wife, Armina Reyes, again called her brothers to the house. Kimmel told a probation officer that he shot 16-year-old Jaime Reyes when the youth charged at him with a piece of metal. Kimmel, who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in March, later told officials that he had intended to shoot Reyes’ feet but that the gun fired accidentally as he backed into a car.

Mangrobang told a probation officer that he did not shoot Jose Reyes but that he pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon to avoid a prolonged trial. Deputy Dist. Atty. Kenneth Barshop, who prosecuted the case, said Mangrobang received a prison sentence because he was on probation at the time of the incident.