Judge Gives Days 5 years Probation

By Brandon Jenkins City Editor A 19-year-old man who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter last month in connection with the killing of a San Diego State student in 2002 was granted probation Friday. Darius Days was one of four teens charged with murder for the killing of 22-year-old Paul Mefford in El Carmel Point in Mission Bay Park on July 14, 2002. Days entered a plea bargain last month that dropped his sentencing down from a murder charge after a jury deadlocked 8-4. He originally faced no more than seven years in prison for that crime and a separate assault conviction. Judge Michael Wellington said he believed Days could make a productive life for himself if he is given full support of his community and not sentenced to prison, as prosecutors had requested. He sentenced Days to five years probation and told him he had a debt to himself and his community. After the hearing, Wellington hugged several of Days' family members as they thanked him. According to prosecutors, Days was part of a group that stole several bicycles from another group of partygoers, including Mefford, and placed them in the bed of a pickup truck. When the second group tried to take the bikes out of the truck, a fight erupted. Shortly after that, a shot was fired from the other side of the parking lot, killing Mefford. The shooter has never been identified and no blame has been placed. Days will be sentenced on assault charges next month for kicking someone in the face during the fight. Others arrested in the killing were Andie Shoate, Lamar Long and Calvin Pearce. Pearce pleaded guilty to an assault charge last year. He will be sentenced at a hearing next month for up to four years in prison. Shoate and Long also pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and were sentenced to six years in prison earlier this month. Wellington said he believed Shoate and Long were directly related to Mefford's killing, but Days was not.

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