Panorama City Youth Pleads Not Guilty in Fatal Shooting

A 15-year-old Panorama City boy accused of fatally shooting a schoolmate at Reseda High School pleaded not guilty Tuesday in San Fernando Valley Juvenile Court to charges of murder and attempted robbery.

Robert Heard, who was arrested last week in the Feb. 22 shooting death of Michael Shean Ensley, 17, is also charged with assault with a deadly weapon and having a loaded weapon on a school campus.

Because he is being tried as a juvenile, the maximum sentence he faces is confinement in a California Youth Authority facility until he turns 25. Under state law, only juveniles 16 years or older may be tried as adults.

Heard, who remains in custody, is scheduled to return to court April 9 for a hearing. Unlike adult criminal matters, in Juvenile Court, there are no jury trials. A judge or commissioner hears the evidence and then decides whether the charges should be sustained--the equivalent of a conviction.

Outside the courtroom, Deputy Dist. Atty. James R. Bozajian declined to discuss details of the case.

Heard’s court-appointed attorney, Sheldon Brown, said he has not had an opportunity to fully interview his client.

Brown said he believes that there was a verbal altercation between Heard and Ensley, and that the shooting was “a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

Brown also acknowledged that Heard was on probation at the time of his arrest, but declined to disclose the nature of the prior conviction except to describe it as a minor incident.

Police have described Heard as a graffiti vandal with a criminal record, but have refused to disclose details.

According to police, Heard shot Ensley in a school hallway after the two apparently argued about their rival graffiti “tagging crews.”

While fleeing the scene after the shooting, Heard allegedly tried to rob a second teen-ager about a block away from the campus.