Man in court for manslaughter following ‘accidental’ fatal shooting

Medford, Ore. — The man accused of accidentally shooting and killing Luke Adrian-Heiner Barmes, 34, last weekend went before a Jackson County Judge for the first time on Friday. In court, Judge Lorenzo Mejia read Vincent DiCostanzo the charges he faces– manslaughter one, two, and felon in possession of a firearm.

“The first one is a Class A Felony, exposing you to 20 years in prison and a fine of $375,000,” Judge Mejia said.

DiCostanzo was arrested on May first for an unrelated warrant, and Medford police officially charged him with the crimes Thursday morning. Medford Police Sergeant Brent Mak said investigators have been working around the clock since Saturday.

“They did a very complete and thorough investigation, and at the end of that, this is the result we have,” Sergeant Mak said. “There is no beef, there’s no argument, there’s no bad feelings, it was a, they met to do a transaction, there’s a handing of a gun back and forth, the gun is discharged, and we have a deceased person.”

On Saturday, police say DiCostanzo went to Barmes’ house on the 200 block of Iowa street, for a drug-related exchange. Police said the men were passing the firearm back and forth, when it went off.

“The gun itself wasn’t really part of this deal or transaction they were doing, it was brought to the scene,” Sergeant Mak said.

According to court documents, this isn’t the first brush with the law that DiCostanzo, has had. NBC5 News dug into DiCostanzo’s criminal past, and found that he now has two open cases in Jackson County Circuit Court, both involving felony charges. The other involves drug charges, and a DUII. He was previously convicted of 2nd degree robbery in 2014.

Police are still looking to interview witnesses; they’re asking anyone who has any information, to come forward and report it.

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