LA Gang Member Sentenced To Death For 4 Murders

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A gang member has been sentenced to death for the murder of four people, including a 10-year-old boy shot in an unprovoked attack aimed at children.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge said 44-year-old Charles Ray Smith purposefully targeted the youngsters when he fired at a group of people on the sidewalk. The June 2006 shooting became known as the "49th Street Massacre," which killed the boy, his 22-year-old uncle and a teenage neighbor. The boy's 12-year-old brother was seriously wounded in the attack.

The judge said Smith, who mistook the victims for rival gang members, must have known he was targeting children.

Smith was also convicted of a separate murder charge in the shooting death of a construction worker who was bringing home milk to his family.

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