A teenage gang member was sentenced today to 107 years to life in state prison for firing a gun at a group of young people playing basketball at a San Bernardino schoolyard in 2006, killing 11-year-old Anthony Ramirez.
James Lamont Bagsby, 19, was in San Bernardino Superior Court for sentencing after a jury found him guilty Apr. 19 of second-degree murder in Anthony’s death, 10 felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon and a host of special allegations, including using a firearm.
Anthony was with a group of boys on a basketball court at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in June 2006 when Bagsby approached and asked the group where they were from. Moments later, he fired into the group.
Anthony’s mother, Michelle Ramirez, and other family members made statements to the court during the proceedings.
“You made the worst mistake of your life, and that was pulling a .22 caliber out at my children,” the boy’s mother told Bagsby during her statement. She also told the defendant that he cheated her family of Anthony’s precious life.
“He was so full of life, and you ended that,” Ramirez said.
Of the total sentence, Bagsby was sentenced to a determinate term of 67 years for the 10 felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon and related special allegations.
In Anthony’s death, Bagsby was sentenced to the indeterminate terms of 15 years to life on the second-degree murder conviction and 25 years to life for the use of a firearm. The total indeterminate term is 40 years to life.
Defense lawyer Marcie Gardner said she would file a notice of appeal on her client’s behalf. She said later she thought Bagsby’s specific case was particularly difficult when it came to sentencing because his behavior — as a 15-year-old child at the time — was being held to an adult standard.
“Philosophically, I think there’s lots of problems with that,” Gardner said.
Deputy District Attorney Jim McGee said he believed the sentence was a just one, under the circumstances. Bagsby’s actions were those of an individual who was cold and had no regard for others, he said.
“No childhood could excuse that,” McGee said.