The State - News from June 1, 1988

A 24-year-old man left a quadriplegic in a shooting last year was shot again as he lay helpless in bed, just hours before he was scheduled to testify against the alleged gunman in the first shooting. Keith A. Curry of Pacoima, who also survived a car bombing two years ago, was in critical but stable condition at an undisclosed hospital with two bullet wounds in the head. Police said Curry was shot about nine hours before he was scheduled to testify from a wheelchair in a preliminary hearing against his brother-in-law, Donald Franklin Smith, who is charged in the Sept. 29, 1987, shooting that left Curry paralyzed from the neck down. Police said they are attempting to learn whether the latest attempt on Curry’s life is connected to last year’s shooting, but so far they have no evidence that it was. “Right now, Smith is under investigation,” said Lt. Bernard D. Conine. “We cannot say that he is a suspect. We know there was an ongoing dispute between them.” The preliminary hearing on the charges against Smith, 30, including attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, has been rescheduled.