Accused of murder; convicted of manslaughter

He officially became an adult on Sunday, but instead of a celebration, Travis Arnold is facing jail time. A jury of six men and six women deliberated for just under two hours today before finding Arnold not guilty of murder, but guilty of the alternate charge of manslaughter. Justice Adolph Lucas has set May twelfth as the date for mitigation testimony followed by sentencing. The charges against the eighteen year old are the result of an altercation between Arnold and nineteen year old Jason Encalada-Wagner. According to court reports, on May third, 2004, the two were in a yard at mile eight on the Western Highway when Wagner threw a mango seed and it landed near Travis. After an exchange of hard words between the youths, eyewitnesses say that Arnold reached into his pocket, pulled out a knife, and fatally stabbed Wagner to the chest.