Suspect in road rage death of child charged with murder
A 29-year-old man suspected in the alleged road-rage shooting death of a 4-year-old boy in Lancaster was charged Tuesday with murder.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, Byron Burkhart was also charged with two counts of attempted murder, one count of shooting at an occupied vehicle and five counts of possession of a firearm by a felon.
He is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 22 at the Antelope Valley Courthouse. According to county jail records, he is being held in lieu of $2 million bail, although prosecutors were asking that his bail be increased to more than $5 million.
According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Burkhart opened fire on a vehicle Friday night in the area of Sierra Highway and East Avenue J.
Prosecutors said eight shots were fired.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, a camera in the victims’ vehicle captured images of the suspect vehicle’s license plate. Sheriff’s officials said investigators located the suspects’ vehicle in the immediate area of the shooting and arrested Burkhart and Gentile on suspicion of murder.
City News Service contributed to this report
