Man who shot sleeping neighbor in Poway charged with murder, pleads not guilty

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – Murder and other felony charges were filed today against a 20-year-old probationer who allegedly fired a gunshot toward his brother, missing him but inadvertently killing a next-door neighbor asleep in
his bed.

Manuula Save is accused in the Saturday morning death of Michael Walker, 38, who was shot about 1:45 a.m. by a bullet that traveled through a bedroom wall in the defendant’s apartment and into the victim’s unit in the 13400 block of Midland Road. Walker was hit once in the abdomen and died at a hospital about an hour later.

Save faces life imprisonment if convicted of murder, shooting into an inhabited dwelling, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He pleaded not guilty.

Deputy District Attorney Kristie Nikoletich said the shooting stemmed from a verbal argument and physical fight between Save and his older brother. Following the argument, Save retrieved a gun and fired at his sibling “to show his brother he wasn’t scared of him,” the prosecutor alleged.

Save then allegedly hid the 9mm firearm, which he was not allowed to possess due to a previous hit-and-run conviction involving the death of an elderly woman, Nikoletich said. Save was sentenced to probation in that case,
she said.

Nikoletich said Save was charged with murder due to “the defendant’s conscious disregard for human life.”

Save, who’s being held in lieu of $3 million bail, is due back in court Aug. 29 for a readiness conference.