ENCINO : Judge to Decide if Man Will Be Tried in Killing

A judge is expected to decide today whether a Van Nuys man should stand trial on charges of murdering a 2-year-old boy who was killed when gangs turned deadly violence on an Easter Sunday picnic.

Municipal Court Judge Jessica Perrin Silvers will rule in the case of Larry Dean Shaw, 31, who is also accused of critically injuring two adults.

About 100 people had gathered at Balboa Park in Encino when a fight broke out between rival gang members, according to testimony given Monday at Shaw’s preliminary hearing.

Soon after the shooting, Shaw was identified by several witnesses as being the man armed with two guns who opened fire near the car where Ryan Brown was fatally wounded.

But two key witnesses recanted Monday, saying they could not explain why they picked Shaw from a photo lineup prepared by investigators.

Damon Keith Napier, a 29-year-old Sherman Oaks man currently being held in County Jail in connection with another case, said he saw plenty of guns at the park but could not identify Shaw as the man who shot him in the stomach.

Even though Napier told police from his hospital bed that Shaw “was firing at everyone,” he testified Monday that he has no idea who shot him.

Napier went on to say that the man armed with two guns had his back to him when he was shot and therefore could not have fired the round that entered his abdomen.

Several prior witnesses identified Shaw as holding two semiautomatic pistols.