California IN BRIEF : SAN DIEGO : Killer of Mexican Boy Given 2 Years

In a case that has attracted widespread interest in both the United States and Mexico, a construction worker pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter charges in the shooting death of a 12-year-old undocumented Mexican boy who was gunned down last May along the U.S.-Mexico border strip in San Diego. The assailant, Dwight Ray Pannel, 23, of Imperial Beach, will receive a two-year prison sentence--without possibility of parole--and a fine of up to $10,000 under a plea-bargain with the San Diego County district attorney. Defense attorneys have maintained that the boy’s death was the tragic result of a misfired shot during target-shooting.