The California Supreme Court refused today to hear the case of an ex-con who was found guilty of fatally shooting a man in Long Beach and narrowly missing the victim’s 6-year-old former stepson.

Jason Monroe Daniels, now 37, was convicted of second-degree murder for the April 19, 2017 killing of William Luther Hayes, along with child abuse under circumstances likely to produce or cause great bodily injury or death and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Daniels, who had been kicked out of his girlfriend’s home following an argument that afternoon, re-entered the home while she was away and confronted Hayes when he showed up unexpectedly to see his two former step children, according to a July 26 ruling by a three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal that upheld the defendant’s conviction.

Daniels shot Hayes once in the chest, narrowly missing his girlfriend’s son, the justices noted.

“The evidence in the case before us was compelling. In convicting Daniels of second degree murder, the jury reasonably rejected his attempt to portray Hayes as the aggressor in the shooting,” the appellate court panel found in its ruling.

Daniels–who had prior strikes from 2014 for assault with a fire arm and criminal threats–fled after the shooting and was picked up by U.S. Marshals in Las Vegas two weeks later.

He was sentenced in August 2019 to 122 years to life in state prison, but the appellate court panel noted that state law passed since Daniels was sentenced requires that three one-year sentencing enhancements to be stricken from his sentence.

Court upholds Long Beach man’s conviction for second-degree murder, child abuse