Fed up that his parking spot at the Long Beach apartment complex where he lived was either blocked or occupied, a 42-year-old man grabbed a gun before shooting and killing a visitor to a neighbor’s apartment following an argument in 2023, a prosecutor told jurors during closing arguments of the man’s trial Tuesday, June 3.
But Roland Barber’s attorney countered, saying no evidence was presented that his client committed that shooting, but if the jury believed he did, that he was provoked by the neighbor and her visitors, who were members of a Los Angeles street gang. Ludlow Creary, the attorney, said at worst the shooting amounted to voluntary manslaughter.
Barber faces one count of murder in the June 16, 2023 slaying of 35-year-old David Nevarez, who was shot twice at the Pacific Cove Condominiums complex in the 5500 block of Ackerfield Avenue. Barber also faces charges of shooting at an inhabited dwelling and felon in possession of a firearm for a separate shooting at the complex two weeks later, which led to his arrest.
Prosecutor Jacqueline Mac said Barber “turned a parking dispute into a murder” shortly before 10 p.m. on that date. Nevarez had arrived at the complex to visit a friend at a nearby unit, but he and Barber argued outside the complex before both men walked inside.
The friend was inside her unit when she heard a voice she recognized as Barber’s say “I got something for you,” shortly before gunshots rang out, Mac said.
Nevarez was hit twice, with a gunshot wound to the right side of his back below his shoulder being the fatal shot, Mac said. Several friends attempted to help Nevarez before first responders arrived. He died at a hospital.
Mac described Barber, who was known among neighbors to use a cane and wear a face covering, as being obsessed over the parking dispute, sending multiple text messages leading up to the shooting about being tired of his spot being blocked.
But Creary described the situation as gang members descending from Los Angeles to Long Beach and trying to spread “like a virus.” He said the gang members would use “passive aggression and agitation” about the parking as a way of trying to take over.
Creary claimed Nevarez followed Barber into the complex following the argument, though Mac countered there was no evidence of that.
“Had he not followed (Barber) into the complex, he wouldn’t have been shot,” Creary said.
Video surveillance showed a man using a cane walking away from the complex following the shooting, and Mac said evidence showed a friend had driven Barber away from the complex.
Barber and his wife, who remained at their apartment, exchanged text messages in which Barber asked about the status of the police investigation and allegedly told his wife that he would add an hour after police left the scene before coming home, which Mac said was to make sure he didn’t run into police upon his return.
Creary told jurors the messages showed Barber knew he wouldn’t be able to get back home and didn’t want to wait outside.
Barber returned home between 4 and 5 a.m. the following morning, Mac said.
Two weeks later, on June 29, Barber and his wife, along with their children, returned home when another man, Isaac Garcia, fired shots at Barber and hit him at least once as he was getting out of his vehicle. That shooting was described by the attorneys as retaliation for Nevarez’s slaying.
Barber then went to his apartment, grabbed a handgun and walked up to the woman’s apartment and on two separate occasions, fired shots into the unit, but no one was hit, Mac said.
Police arrived, arrested both men and found two firearms, one of them from Barber’s apartment, which matched the casings found inside and outside the neighbor’s apartment, Mac said.
Barber also allegedly told a Department of Children and Family Services worker at some point following his arrest that he had been shot in the carport, went to get a gun and had gone to the apartment and “unloaded two magazines.”
Creary told jurors that Barber’s role in the June 29 shooting was self defense after he had been shot in the carport, but Mac countered and said the threat was well over by the time Barber grabbed the gun and “calmly” walked up to the apartment before firing the shots.
While the weapon used in Nevarez’s killing was not found, cartridge casings with a Sig Sauer head stamp were found at the scene, Mac said. Investigators found a box of Sig Sauer ammunition inside Barber’s apartment.
There were no direct witnesses to the shooting, nor was it captured on surveillance video. One of the 911 callers described the alleged suspect as using a cane and having a face covering.
Mac pointed to testimony of another neighbor, who said she also had issues with parking involving visitors to the same apartment, but any time she asked them to move, they did.
“A person of average disposition does not go and shoot someone over a parking dispute,” Mac said. “Being mad that someone is blocking your parking spot or is in your parking spot is not enough.”
Jurors will return to Long Beach Superior Court Wednesday morning to begin deliberating.
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