BOSTON, June 1, 2015—An H-Block gang member was convicted of involuntary manslaughter today for causing the death of 40-year-old Kelvin Rowell, who died of an asthma attack after fleeing the defendant’s barrage of gunfire, Suffolk county District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

MICHAEL “FRESH” STALLINGS (D.O.B. 3/31/89) was also convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm for the 2012 incident in the area of Blue Hill Avenue and Pasadena Road. Stallings, who had been indicted for first-degree murder, was acquitted of two counts of armed assault with intent to murder.

“This jury weighed the evidence, found the facts, and applied the law,” Conley said. “When you open fire on a busy street without warning or provocation, you’re responsible for what happens next.”

During about a week of testimony, Assistant District Attorney Julie Higgins of the DA’s Homicide Unit introduced evidence and testimony proving that Stallings was armed with a .40 caliber handgun when he opened fire at a group of men on the night of Jan. 23, 2012. Rowell was among those in that group.

Though Higgins argued that Stallings was gunning for rivals from the Castlegate gang, Rowell was not affiliated with any gang. Like others, he ran from the gunfire – but soon collapsed as he suffered a severe asthma attack brought on by the stress and exertion of fleeing down Pasadena Road. He was found unresponsive with his inhaler in his hand.

Rowell was rushed to Boston Medical Center, where he remained in a coma for 42 days. He died on March 5, 2012.

At the time of the shooting, Stallings was wearing a GPS device that placed him at the scene of that shooting in violation of a court-ordered curfew.  He was arrested in August 2012 with a firearm that Boston Police criminalists matched to shell casings at Blue Hill Avenue and Pasadena Road. After an exhaustive grand jury investigation that featured testimony from multiple civilian witnesses, Stallings was indicted on Jan. 31, 2013, under a theory of law contained in a 1997 Supreme Judicial Court decision stating that “the defendant’s acts need not be the sole or exclusive cause of death.”

Stallings’ sentencing has not yet been scheduled but is expected next week. He was represented by attorney Stephen Weymouth.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.