Two men were charged today with the murder of a 3-year-old boy who was killed during a shootout in a Compton liquor store parking lot earlier this year, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.
Dwayne Ward (dob 3/14/88) and Kevaughn Harris (dob 5/20/90) were each charged in case TA145656 with one count of murder, shooting at an occupied motor vehicle and possession of a firearm by a felon. They are scheduled to be arraigned today in Department 12 of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Compton Branch.
On Jan. 20, Harris was walking toward a car that was parked outside a liquor store in the 2800 block of West Alondra Boulevard. Inside the vehicle were his girlfriend and her 3-year-old son Franklin.
Ward was sitting in a nearby vehicle and allegedly got into a verbal dispute with Harris. Both men, who were rival gang members, allegedly pulled out handguns and began firing at one another.
Franklin, who was sitting in the backseat of the vehicle, was fatally shot in the exchange of gunfire. His mother was not injured.
If convicted as charged, Ward and Harris face a possible maximum sentence of life in prison.
The case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
