Month: June 2017

Haraquon Degruy pleads guilty in deaths of Metairie father and son

A New Orleans woman was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Friday (June 30), for her role in the deaths of a father and son who were killed in their Metairie home.

Haraquon Degruy, 20, pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter in admitting her guilt as the getaway driver in the April 22, 2015, crime spree that culminated with deaths of David Pence, 56, and his son Nicolas Pence, 25. Manslaughter’s maximum punishment is 40 years in prison.

Degruy had been charged as a principal to second-degree murder. After discussions with the Pence family, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office agreed to the plea. Beth Pence, who lost her husband and son in the crime, provided victim impact testimony, during which she told the judge, “They were ready to prosecute, but we couldn’t do a trial again. It would have been too much.”

The killer, Dexter Allen, 19, was convicted as charged by a Jefferson Parish jury in October of two counts of second-degree murder. In April, Judge Ray Steib of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Allen to spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Allen also was convicted of 19 counts of simple burglary. Degruy was charged with the same offenses and pleaded guilty to those crimes.

Judge Steib, in accepting the plea agreement, sentenced Degruy to the maximum punishment for manslaughter, 40 years, and to two years for each of the 19 counts of simple burglary. Judge Steib ran the sentences concurrently and ordered that Degruy serve the punishment at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Seth Shute and Rachel Africk prosecuted the cases.

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West Bank trio sentenced to life in prison for Marrero murder, attempted murders

Three West Bank men who were convicted earlier this month of a string of shootings that left a man dead and a 2-year-old boy injured were sentenced on Monday to life sentences in prison.

Kevin Hicks, 28, and Kevias Hicks, 26, who are brothers, and Tommie “Tucker” Molette, 24, were convicted June 2 of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder charges.

They killed Deshon Evans, 20, and wounded his 19-year-old friend on Oct. 8, 2013, when the gunmen went to Evans’ home in the 5900 block of Becker Street in Marrero.

The Hickses and Molette received mandatory life sentences for killing Evans and the maximum 50 years for the attempted murder of the 19-year-old man. Evans’ mother and the surviving victim provided impact testimony in which they said they forgave the Hickses and Molette.

Judge Stephen Enright of the 24th Judicial District Court, who presided over the cases, ran the sentences concurrently. The 50-year sentences will be served without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence, Judge Enright said.

The same jury that convicted the trio of those crimes also found Kevias Hicks guilty of two counts of attempted second-degree murder. Those crimes happened July 13, 2013, at an apartment complex in the 2800 block of Mount Kennedy Drive in Marrero.

A woman and her 2-year-old son were walking outside at the complex when gunmen opened fire. A bullet struck the toddler, who survived.

Judge Enright sentenced Kevias Hicks to 50 years in prison for each of the attempted murders. He ran those two sentences concurrent with each other, and then ran that punishment consecutive to the sentences he gave Kevias Hicks for the Becker Street murder.

Kevin Hicks also was charged with the attempted murders, but the jury acquitted him. In a separate trial, Kedrick “KK” Anderson, 24, of Waggaman, was convicted of two counts of attempted second-degree murder and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

The Mount Kennedy shooting stemmed from an ongoing dispute between the Hickses and the father of the 2-year-old boy.

Assistant District Attorneys Douglas Rushton and Lynn Schiffman prosecuted the case.

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Marrero man guilty of murdering boss at Kenner workplace

A Jefferson Parish jury deliberated just over one hour Thursday night (June 15), rejecting a Marrero man’s insanity defense and convicting him as charged of murdering his supervisor at their workplace in Kenner.

John Spears, 52, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison for fatally shooting Anthony Tardo, 49, of Mandeville, on Dec. 4, 2015.

About 3:30 p.m., employees at Houston Marine Training Services, in the 2500 block of Williams Boulevard, heard Tardo yell “What the f—?” and then heard a gunshot. Spears stood in the entrance to Tardo’s office and fired one .40-caliber bullet into his boss’s chest. Tardo died in about a minute.

Spears calmly told his coworkers to call 911. He then walked out front door into the parking lot, where he ejected the magazine from his pistol and placed it atop his car. He waited for the Kenner Police Department to arrive.

Spears pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. His attorneys argued that he has a history of mental illness and that he suffered a delusional psychotic episode when he shot Tardo. Spears further asserted he blacked out

Spears and Tardo had been co-workers about 1 ½ years before the homicide. Tardo, a husband and father, was the site supervisor at the Kenner Houston Marine location, which assisted people in obtaining licenses to work offshore industries. Spears was an instructor in dynamic positioning, using a simulator to train students in keeping a vessel afloat stable.

After killing Tardo, Spears declined to give detectives a statement in explaining why he shot his supervisor. However, in phone calls he made to his wife from the parish jail, he accused Tardo of repeatedly “aggravating” him. He also asked his wife to find his medical records to support his contention of mental illness. Jurors heard recordings of those phone calls.

One co-worker told detectives that he and Spears crossed paths at the business earlier that day, and that Spears mentioned he was going to shoot co-workers. The co-worker thought Spears was joking. Otherwise, none of the employees noted anything overtly amiss between Spears and Tardo.

The jury of eight women and four men delivered its verdict about 9:15 p.m., Thursday. Judge June Berry Darensburg of the 24th Judicial District is scheduled to sentence Spears on July 24.

Assistant District Attorneys Joshua Vanderhooft and Rhonda Goode-Douglas prosecuted the case.

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West Bank men sentenced for convictions in Marrero homicides

Two West Bank men who were convicted last month of killing a pair of half-brothers during an ambush-style shooting on a Marrero residential street were sentenced Wednesday (June 7).

Jordan Hicks, 24, of Westwego, was sentenced to two mandatory life sentences in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Ernest Payne Jr., 28, of Marrero, was sentenced to two 40-year sentences, for his conviction of two counts of manslaughter. Forty years is the maximum punishment for the offense.

They killed Martin “Marty” Harry, 19, and Delanta “Dig” McCall, 21, on Aug. 12, 2012.

Harry, McCall and their cousin were in Harry’s car in the 1600 block of Julie Street, in Marrero’s Acre Road public housing development, when gunmen opened fire.

A Jefferson Parish jury returned guilty verdicts on May 19. Hicks was convicted as charged of two counts of second-degree murder. Payne also was charged with murder, but the jury returned with the manslaughter verdicts.

After denying defense motions for new trials and hearing victim impact testimony from three family members, 24th Judicial District Court Judge Stephen Grefer handed down the sentences. He ran both sentences concurrently.

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Africk and Seth Shute prosecuted the case.

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West Bank trio convicted of Marrero murder, shooting that injured 2-year-old boy

After hearing four days of testimony, a Jefferson Parish jury returned with guilty verdicts Friday evening (June 2), convicting three West Bank men for their involvement in a chain of deadly shootings in 2013, including one in which a 2-year-old boy was severely injured.

Kevin Hicks, 28, and Kevias Hicks, 26, who are brothers, and Tommie “Tucker” Molette, 24, were convicted as charged of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder charges, for shooting two men in a Marrero home on Oct. 8, 2013.

Kevias Hicks separately was convicted as charged of two counts of attempted second-degree murder charges, for a retaliatory ambush-style shooting in a Marrero apartment complex alley on July 13, 2013, in which a woman and her 2-year-old son were caught in the crossfire. Kevin Hicks was acquitted of those charges.

The murder happened inside a small room of a home in the 5900 block of Becker Street. Deshon Evans, 20, who lived at the house, and a 19-year-old friend were recording music when the Hickses and Molette opened fire.

Evans was shot six times, including twice in the head, and died sitting in his chair. His friend was shot four times but survived to identify the gunmen.

In the other shooting, Kevias Hicks and his half-brother Kedrick “KK” Anderson, opened fire at an apartment complex in the 2800 block of Mount Kennedy Drive. One of the bullets struck a 2-year-old boy in the chest and exited his back.

His mother carried him to safety but, fearing retaliation, was initially hesitant to identify the shooters. Months later, she later relented and identified the Hickses and Anderson as the shooters, but she recanted during the trial on the identification of Kevin Hicks.

Anderson, 24, of Waggaman, was tried for the crimes separately in December. He was convicted as charged of two attempted second-degree murder counts. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Jan. 17.

The Mount Kennedy shooting was part of a series of violent crimes in which the Hickses and others were targeting Antione Payne – who is the father of the wounded 2-year-old boy.

In 2010, Payne and another man, Richshawn Williams, who was associated with the Hickses, were charged with an armed robbery. Payne pleaded guilty as an amended charge of accessory after the fact to armed robbery and received a two-year sentence, while Williams received a 20-year sentence for his guilty plea.

The disparity led to suspicions that Payne cooperated with authorities in exchange for favorable treatment. That made him a target on the streets, homicide detective Sgt. Gary Barteet of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office testified.

In the first known incident, in June 2013, Payne was shot at but not wounded while he was in a car at Ames and Lapalco boulevards in Marrero.

Days later, Kevias Hicks and Anderson believed they were targeting Payne at the Mount Kennedy complex. In fact, they mistakenly shot at Payne’s brother, whom he resembled. That’s when the toddler was wounded.

Three days after the Mount Kennedy shooting, on July 16, 2013, Payne encountered the Hickses, Anderson and another man as they were in separate cars crossing the Crescent City Connection to the West Bank.

Payne and occupants of the other car exchanged gunfire during the rolling shoot-out, during which Kevias Hicks was shot in the leg and a stray bullet struck a nearby motel adjacent to the elevated Westbank Expressway. Kevias Hicks was left at a New Orleans hospital, while Kevin Hicks secreted away their guns.

Then, on Aug. 12, 2013, Payne fired three bullets from a distance at the mother of Anderson’s children, as she drove in the 900 block of Beechgrove Boulevard in Bridge City. The woman’s 1-year-old son was in the car with her. No one was injured. For that shooting, Payne, 27, pleaded guilty in 2015 to aggravated assault with a firearm and received two years in prison to be followed by three years of active probation.

Analyzing spent bullet casings recovered from the crime scenes, Sheriff’s Office firearms examiner Jené Rauch determined that Kevias Hicks’ 9mm semiautomatic pistol was used in the Mount Kennedy and elevated expressway shootings and the Becker Street murder.

The group’s ongoing dispute with Payne did not factor into the Becker Street shooting. In that incident, the Hickses and Molette were seeking to kill someone else, Barteet determined. That targeted person was not at the residence, however.

The jury of seven women and five men, which was selected last week and returned to court Tuesday to begin the trial’s testimony phase, deliberated about 55 minutes in reaching its verdict.

Second-degree murder carries a punishment of mandatory life in prison with no probation, parole or suspension of sentence. Attempted second-degree murder carries a punishment of 10 years up to 50 years in prison.

Judge Stephen Enright of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence the trio on June 15.

Assistant District Attorneys Douglas Rushton and Lynn Schiffman prosecuted the case.

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