VAN NUYS : Man Convicted in Easter Slaying of 2-Year-Old Boy

A 32-year-old Van Nuys man was convicted of second-degree murder and two assault charges Tuesday for the shooting death of a 2-year-old boy and the wounding of two men after an Easter Sunday picnic.

A Van Nuys Superior Court jury acquitted Larry Dean Shaw on the more serious charge of first-degree murder in the death of the youngster, Ryan Brown.

The jury also determined that Shaw was not guilty of attempted murder for shooting Damon Keith Napier, 29, and James Anthony Wright, 30, who is paralyzed from the waist down as a result of his wounds.

The shootings happened after a picnic and Easter egg hunt in Encino’s Balboa Park. Investigators said there were at least four shooters and five guns involved. Several witnesses, including the 2-year-old’s mother, Tamara Lee, identified Shaw as being armed with a 9-millimeter pistol in each hand and taking up a position behind a car when the shooting started.

Lee testified that she had placed her son in the car in the hope of driving away but was unable to get the keys because the driver was involved in the altercation. A shot ripped through the back window, striking her son in the head.

Defense attorney Douglas E. McCann argued that prosecutors failed to prove that Shaw was the man with two semiautomatic pistols “shooting OK Corral-style� behind the car.