BALTIMORE — A Baltimore County jury has found a man guilty of manslaughter in a 2020 fatal shooting, after the man, who was a minor at the time, successfully appealed a murder conviction in the case.

Gary Melvin, 30, was killed by a single gunshot during the Aug. 16, 2020, shooting at an Exxon gas station in Reisterstown.

Baltimore County Police charged Xavier Damon Byrd, 16 at the time, and an 18-year-old with murder in connection to Melvin’s shooting death.

A county jury convicted Byrd, who is 20 now, of manslaughter, use of a firearm in a felony or crime of violence, and possession of a firearm as a minor at the end of his second trial on those charges on Thursday, according to online court records. He faces more than 30 years in prison — and at least a decade behind bars without the chance for parole — at sentencing in July.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Public Defender, which represented Byrd, did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Byrd and the other man previously went to trial in September 2021. The case of Byrd’s co-defendant no longer appears in online court records, suggesting he was acquitted of the charges. Byrd, however, was convicted of second-degree murder and firearms offenses. A judge later sentenced him to 35 years in prison.

But Byrd appealed his conviction, arguing to the Maryland Appellate Court that Baltimore County Circuit Judge John J. Nagle should have instructed the jury about imperfect self defense and allowed jurors to consider the charge of voluntary manslaughter.

Imperfect self defense postulates that someone’s actions were somewhat justified, but that they used more force than was reasonable during the encounter. If a jury finds a homicide was partially justified by self defense, it is required to return a verdict of manslaughter rather than first- or second-degree murder.

In Byrd’s case, a three-judge panel on the appellate court agreed with his argument. In a split, 2-1 ruling, they ordered Byrd receive a new trial.

“The trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on imperfect self-defense,” appellate Judge Andrea M. Leahy wrote for the majority. “Mr. Byrd met the low threshold required to generate an instruction on this issue and we must conclude that the trial court’s failure to instruct the jury constituted reversible error.”

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