The Region - News from Aug. 19, 1985

A South-Central Los Angeles man who mistakenly killed a 4-year-old boy last February when his gun discharged after a fight with his girlfriend was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dion G. Morrow. Deputy Dist. Atty. Marc Merrick had sought a second-degree murder conviction in the non-jury trial of James Barnett, 22. But Morrow ruled that Barnett had not shown malice in committing the shooting. Authorities had charged that the child, who had been riding a bicycle on the sidewalk, was accidentally shot when Barnett allegedly fired at his girlfriend’s brother in the 1500 block of East 53rd Street.