Suspect involved in road rage shooting death of 4-year-old charged with murder

Road rage suspect in court

The suspect arrested in the road rage shooting death of 4-year-old Gor Adamyan will be in court Wednesday.

LANCASTER, Calif. - A 29-year-old man involved in the alleged road-rage shooting death of a 4-year-old boy in Lancaster was charged Tuesday with murder.

According to the District Attorney's Office, Byron Burkhart was also charged with two counts of attempted murder, one count of shooting at an occupied vehicle and five counts of possession of a firearm by a felon.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 20 at the Antelope Valley Courthouse. According to county jail records, he is being held in lieu of $2 million bail, although prosecutors were asking that his bail be increased to more than $5 million.

Suspect in road rage death of child charged with murder

A 29-year-old man suspected in the alleged road-rage shooting death of a 4-year-old boy in Lancaster was charged Tuesday with murder.

A second suspect who was arrested in connection with the shooting, 27- year-old Alexandria Gentile, was not charged. Jail records show she was released from custody Tuesday afternoon. Prosecutors identified her as Burkhart's girlfriend.

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Burkhart opened fire on a vehicle Friday night in the area of Sierra Highway and East Avenue J.

Officials say a mother and father were on their way to purchase groceries, with their four-year-old son in the backseat, when Burkhart cut them off and then started chasing them. When the family slowed down, Burkart pulled up alongside their car and started shooting, hitting and killing 4-year-old Gor Adamyan.

Prosecutors said eight shots were fired.

The boy was sitting in the back seat and was struck by gunfire in the upper body. The parents rushed him to a hospital, where he later died.

Child killed in road-rage shooting

A 4-year-old boy is dead after his parents got involved in an apparent road-rage incident that led to a shooting in LA County's Lancaster area.

According to the District Attorney's Office, a camera in the victims' vehicle captured images of the suspect vehicle's license plate. Sheriff's officials said investigators located the suspects' vehicle in the immediate area of the shooting and arrested Burkhart and Gentile on suspicion of murder.

A GoFundMe was created to help the family with funeral expenses. If you'd like to donate, click here.

City News Service contributed to this report