death had earlier thrust an unloaded gun against a pal's neck, a court heard yesterday.

Fifteen-year-old Jason Vegosen was trying to "act tough'', it was claimed.

Michael (Max) McGowan said he brushed the .38 calibre revolver away from his neck.

"I felt a little scared,'' the 12-year-old admitted in juvenile court.

McGowan, accused of killing Ryan Hayward, told the manslaughter trial the incident occurred last July.

It also emerged yesterday that Vegosen suffers from Duane's Syndrome -- which affects his concentration and reading.

His teacher said the condition had caused him to fall behind in his schooling.

Vegosen is alleged to have shot little Ryan on August 8 last year at his home near Lake Brantley High School, Altamonte Springs.

He also faces charges of improper exhibition of a weapon and use of a firearm without adult supervision.

If convicted of manslaughter, the teenager could be held by the juvenile authorities until his 19th birthday.

It is alleged Vegosen took his father's gun from a locked box in a filing cabinet and was showing it to Hayward when he fired.

One of the youngster's friends, Andrew Cheshire, said Vegosen brought the revolver to his home about a week before the shooting.

He opened the chamber, closed it, and then pulled the trigger, claimed Cheshire.

Thirteen-year-old Cheshire said two or three weeks after the Hayward shooting Vegosen called him at his home and asked if he had told anyone about the gun.

"He said `Did you tell anybody about the gun? Because I know I can get in trouble,'''.

Mr. James Russ, defending, described the shooting as a tragic accident.

And he continued by revealing that Vegosen suffers from a medical condition, which left him immature, limited his peripheral vision, and caused concentration and reading problems.

Dr. Robert Rogers, Vegosen's doctor, said the teenager was diagnosed as having Duane's Syndrome in 1989.

Ms Edna Guikema, Vegosen's teacher at Bear Lake Christian School in Apopka, said the condition caused the boy to fall behind at school, and delayed his emotional maturity.

Treatment for the vision problem at a Lake County clinic in the summer of 1991 helped, however.

But Ms Guikema estimated Vegosen had the maturity of an 11 or 12-year-old.

The trial is expected to finish today.