Crime & Safety
Teen Charged with Murder of Local Toddler
As one child struggles to recover from gunshot wounds at Loma Linda Children's Hospital, a 19-year-old faces accusations he tried to kill her and charges that he murdered another toddler.
As a child struggled to live at Loma Linda University Medical Center, the teen accused of shooting her pleaded not guilty to all charges against him in San Bernardino Superior Court today.
San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos filed one count of murder, and seven counts of attempted murder, coupled with applicable special allegations of use of a firearm, use of a firearm causing great bodily injury and personal infliction of great bodily injury against Brandon Taray Barnes, 19, of San Bernardino, according to the DA’s office.
If convicted, Barnes faces 305 years to life in prison.
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Police say that on Sept. 13, a gunman opened fire at a home in the 1300 block of N. D Street. Nylah Franco-Torrez, 3, was killed. Another child and a pregnant woman at the home were seriously injured.
According to police reports, the gunman fired on the house because he was angry that someone at the home had come to the aid of a woman the suspect had tried to assault.
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Nylah and 21-year-old La-Donna Howie and Howie's 4-year-old daughter, Justine, were struck by the gunfire, according to several news reports.
Barnes has court dates scheduled for Sept. 26 and 28 in Department S22. His bail is set at $2,000,000.
“As the District Attorney, let me be clear about one thing, the killing of babies in our community will not be tolerated,” Ramos said through a written statement. “The defendant in this matter will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The surviving victims remain hospitalized.
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