A 43-year-old man was sentenced to 32 years in state prison for fatally shooting another man after an argument over parking at a North Long Beach apartment complex in 2023, the Los Angeles County District Attorney\u2019s Office said.<\/p>\n
Roland Barber pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter on Jan. 13 and was immediately sentenced by Long Beach Superior Court Judge James D. Otto, court records show.<\/p>\n
Barber was convicted by a jury of shooting into an inhabited dwelling and being a felon in possession of a firearm for a separate shooting after a trial that ended in June. But jurors deadlocked, 11-1 favoring guilt<\/a>, on a second-degree murder charge related to the fatal shooting of 35-year-old David Nevarez<\/a> on June 16, 2023 \u2014 leading the judge to declare a mistrial on that count.<\/p>\n Barber\u2019s change of plea came before a potential second trial on the second-degree murder charge.<\/p>\n During last year\u2019s trial, Deputy District Attorney Jacqueline Mac told jurors that Barber shot Nevarez within the Pacific Cove Condominiums, in the 5500 block of Ackerfield Avenue, after they had argued about Barber\u2019s parking spot outside the complex<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mac presented evidence during trial that Barber had been upset that visitors to a neighbor\u2019s apartment had either been parking in his space or blocking it. Barber lived there with his wife and children<\/p>\n Following the shooting, a 911 caller reported seeing a suspect using a cane with his face covered up, Mac said. Barber was known among his neighbors to use a cane.<\/p>\n Barber was driven away from the complex by a friend then returned the following morning after his wife texted him that police had wrapped up their investigation for the night, Mac said.<\/p>\n