A Baltimore County jury has found a man guilty of manslaughter in a 2020 fatal shooting, after the man, who was a minor at the time, successfully appealed a murder conviction in the case.
Gary Melvin, 30, was killed by a single gunshot during the Aug. 16, 2020, shooting at an Exxon gas station in Reisterstown.
Baltimore County Police charged Xavier Damon Byrd, 16 at the time, and an 18-year-old with murder in connection to Melvin’s shooting death.
A county jury convicted Byrd, who is 20 now, of manslaughter, use of a firearm in a felony or crime of violence, and possession of a firearm as a minor at the end of his second trial on those charges on Thursday, according to online court records. He faces more than 30 years in prison — and at least a decade behind bars without the chance for parole — at sentencing in July.
A spokesperson for the Office of the Public Defender, which represented Byrd, declined to comment.
Byrd and the other man previously went to trial in September 2021. The case of Byrd’s co-defendant no longer appears in online court records, suggesting he was acquitted of the charges. Byrd, however, was convicted of second-degree murder and firearms offenses. A judge later sentenced him to 35 years in prison.
But Byrd appealed his conviction, arguing to the Maryland Appellate Court that Baltimore County Circuit Judge John J. Nagle should have instructed the jury about imperfect self defense and allowed jurors to consider the charge of voluntary manslaughter.
Imperfect self defense postulates that someone’s actions were somewhat justified, but that they used more force than was reasonable during the encounter. If a jury finds a homicide was partially justified by self defense, it is required to return a verdict of manslaughter rather than first- or second-degree murder.
In Byrd’s case, a three-judge panel on the appellate court agreed with his argument. In a split, 2-1 ruling, they ordered Byrd receive a new trial.
“The trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on imperfect self-defense,” appellate Judge Andrea M. Leahy wrote for the majority. “Mr. Byrd met the low threshold required to generate an instruction on this issue and we must conclude that the trial court’s failure to instruct the jury constituted reversible error.”
At his first trial, prosecutors argued Byrd shot Melvin in a robbery. Defense attorneys countered it was botched drug deal.
Byrd’s attorneys relied on security camera footage to argue the jury could find the shooting to be partially justified.
According to the appellate court opinion, the footage showed Byrd and Melvin get out of the same SUV. The older and heavier Melvin approached Byrd, who weighed 140 pounds then, and appeared ready to throw a punch, Byrd’s attorney argued. That’s when Byrd fired once, striking Melvin in the abdomen.
At trial, Nagle said he wouldn’t give an instruction on imperfect self defense because there was no evidence that Byrd was afraid — part of the legal standard.
Two of the appeals court judges determined that a jury could have found that Byrd believed he was at imminent risk of severe bodily injury or death. They relied on more than the security footage to reach that conclusion, citing testimony about the weight disparity, evidence that Melvin was under the influence of drugs and a witness’s testimony that there was “commotion.”
“Although we in no way mean to denigrate Mr. Melvin, we must observe that in context a lanky sixteen-year-old such as Mr. Byrd could very well have been in actual fear of the older narcotics dealer advancing towards him and shouting at him while under the influence of numerous substances,” Leahy wrote.
Appellate Judge Donald E. Beachley disagreed, authoring a dissenting opinion.
“I acknowledge that Mr. Byrd could very well have been in actual fear, but that would be pure speculation because there was no evidence that he actually was in fear of serious bodily injury or death at the time he fired his gun,” Beachley wrote.
