Category: What’s New

For shooting a man in the back in Kenner, Shyheem Love convicted of attempted murder, other crimes

A Jefferson Parish jury on Tuesday night (Oct 3) convicted Shyheem Love of shooting a 61-year-old man in the back when he was criminally barred from possessing guns, and then from the parish jail tried to concoct a scheme to pay the victim $5,000 to recant.

Love, 28, of LaPlace, is guilty as charged of attempted second-degree murder, simple criminal damage of property and of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, jurors decided. He additionally was convicted of attempted obstruction of justice.

The shooting happened Dec. 22, 2021, in the 1600 block of Newport Place in Kenner, just outside Love’s girlfriend’s apartment. She had just been released from the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna and needed a ride to Kenner. A 61-year-old family friend with whom she had had sexual encounters in the past gave her that ride in his work van. He had taken with him her three young children to get their mother from the jail.

Outside her apartment, the woman was retrieving her children from the man’s work van to bring them inside. That’s when the man noticed Love standing nearby.

Love asked to speak with the man. He then asked the man to exit his van. The man refused. Love then fired three or four bullets at the van. The man sped away to his home in the 3600 block of Loyola Drive in Kenner. Once home, he noticed his back was wet with his own blood. The Kenner Police Department was notified.

After the man was treated and released from a hospital, he identified Love as the shooter by selecting his image in a photographic lineup. The man was familiar with Love but knew him only by his first name.

Love was arrested. While awaiting trial in the parish jail in Gretna, Love made numerous phone calls to his father and to his girlfriend. Knowing that the phone calls are recorded, he nonetheless made efforts to buy the victim’s silence through a $5,000 payoff. Love attempted to conceal his scheme through referring to it as “playing Monopoly,” a reference to the board game.

Love was convicted of attempted second-degree murder for shooting the victim; simple criminal damage to property valued at between $1,000 and $50,000 for damaging the victim’s work van with the bullets; and of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm (he was convicted in 2015 of second-degree battery in St. John the Baptist Parish). Love was charged with obstruction of justice for his scheme to get the victim to recant, but jurors returned with the verdict of attempted obstruction of justice.

The jury that was seated on Monday deliberated about 1 ½ hours before returning with its verdicts about 7 p.m., Tuesday. Judge Michael Mentz of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Love on Nov. 2.

Assistant District Attorneys Leo Aaron and Molly Love prosecuted the case.

Dennis Sheppard guilty of murdering girlfriend by using zip tie to strangle her

A Jefferson Parish jury has convicted Dennis Sheppard of murdering his girlfriend by using a plastic zip tie around her neck to strangle her.

Sheppard, 60, of Harvey, is guilty as charged of the second-degree murder of Jyra Holmes, the jury unanimously decided during 36 minutes of deliberation on Thursday (Sept. 28).

He killed Holmes, 39, on Nov. 2, 2020, during a domestic dispute outside her apartment the 1500 block of Chelsea Road in Harvey. He put the zip tie around her neck and pushed her to the ground, witnesses told detectives.

“She wanted me dead; now she’s dead,” Sheppard said after killing Holmes, according to two witnesses.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived to find her lifeless body in the driveway with a zip tie around her neck.

A U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force located and arrested Sheppard three days later in Bay St. Louis, Miss.

Through his public defender, Sheppard denied committing a second-degree murder. Rather, the defense attorney asserted that at best, Sheppard was guilty of manslaughter, a lesser homicide committed in the heat of passion that carries a maximum of 40 years in prison.

Judge June Berry Darensburg of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Sheppard on Oct. 30. Second-degree murder carries a mandatory punishment of life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Kristen Landrieu and Carolyn Chkautovich prosecuted the case.

Daniel Tenner sentenced to life plus 139 years for murdering Mississippi woman

A Jefferson Parish judge on Friday (Sept. 15) sentenced Daniel Tenner to life plus 139 years in prison for his conviction of killing a Mississippi woman while robbing her during a cell phone sale they arranged through social media.

Tenner, 21, of Jackson, Miss., shot Morgan Tyrone in the back of her head after she drove from her home in Pascagoula, Miss., to the West Bank to purchase an iPhone 13 for $300 on the evening of April 10, 2022. She died in the driver’s seat of her minivan.

Tyrone was 24. She was murdered in front of her partner and her partner’s 13-month-old son who was in a child seat.

Tenner used a woman’s Facebook account to communicate with Tyrone via Facebook Marketplace. Tyrone believed she was negotiating the purchase with a woman.

A Jefferson Parish jury on Aug. 15 found Tenner guilty as charged of first-degree murder, armed robbery and obstruction of justice in connection with the crimes.

Click here to read about the trial and conviction.

Tenner appeared Friday before 24th Judicial District Judge Donald “Chick” Foret to receive the sentences.

Tyrone’s older brother, mother and partner provided victim-impact testimony. Before announcing the sentence, Judge Foret praised the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office homicide detectives for quickly solving the case and lectured Tenner, referring from the 29 pages of notes he said he jotted down during the trial.

Judge Foret noted testimony from the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy: Tenner placed the pistol barrel to Tyrone’s neck and fired, the bullet severing her spinal cord and killing her instantly. He noted that Tenner shot the woman in front of her partner and the toddler. “This is as bad as it gets, Mr. Tenner,” Judge Foret said.

The punishment for first-degree murder is mandatory life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. Judge Foret sentenced Tenner to 99 years for the armed robbery and 40 years for the obstruction of justice – both the maximum sentences. Judge Foret ran the sentences consecutively, or back-to-back.

“If I could give you more, I’d give you more,” Judge Foret told Tenner. “This is a tragic thing you’ve done. You’ve ruined these peoples’ lives.”

The District Attorney’s Office did not seek the death penalty.

Assistant District Attorneys LaShanda Webb and Brittany Beckner prosecuted the case.

Dartanya Spottsville convicted again of Father’s Day 2015 attack that left two dead, one injured

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday night (Sept. 7) found Dartanya O. Spottsville guilty of his role in the murders of a pair of cousins who were shot during an apparent ambush inside a West Bank apartment on Father’s Day 2015.

Spottsville, 35, of Marrero, was convicted as charged of two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Johnell Ovide and Trammell Marshall, one count of attempted second-degree murder in the shooting of another man and one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

His conviction brings to two the number of times he’s been found guilty of the crimes.

The first time Spottsville was convicted was in September 2019. Jurors in that trial did not return with unanimous verdicts. The following year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in an unrelated case, Ramos v. Louisiana, that non-unanimous verdicts are unconstitutional. As a result of the Ramos decision, Spottsville received a new trial.

About 10 p.m., on June 21, 2015, Spottsville and two friends — Jacobie Green and Johnell Walker, both of whom were armed — arrived unexpected at a small, one-bedroom apartment in the 1600 block of Apache Drive, just off Manhattan Boulevard in Harvey. Spottsville and Walker sat on sofas in the living room. Green stood in the doorway, the only way out of the apartment.

Ovide, Marshall and two other men already were at the apartment. At least two of those men had pistols.

Ovide allowed Spottsville to handle his pistol. After doing so, Spottsville handed the pistol back to Ovide. Spottsville then held the pistol owned by the surviving victim. For unknown reasons and without provocation, Spottsville shot Ovide and then shot the surviving victim. Chaos ensued, with Green and Walker, immediately opening fire and striking the three victims.

The 23-year-old man who rented the apartment fled into his bedroom and dove through a closed window to escape. At the same time, Spottsville ran past Green and out of the apartment, likely in pursuit of the renter who was able to escape. Marshall ran into the kitchen, followed by Green and Walker, and more shots were fired there.

By the time the gunfire ended, Ovide, 23, was shot three times, with one of the bullets piercing both lungs and his heart. Marshall, 21, was shot five times; three of those bullets struck his body from the rear. The surviving victim was shot three times, including once in the face.

Spottsville, Green and Walker fled and were not injured.

Hiding nearby in the apartment complex, the renter who escaped called 911. The first Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived two minutes later to find the three gunshot victims outside the apartment. Ovide lay dead or dying in the grass near Marshall, who died a short while later at a hospital. The third victim sat leaning against the apartment’s entry doorframe.

Detectives immediately identified Spottsville as a suspect and obtained an arrest warrant. Spottsville surrendered the following day.

Spottsville initially denied involvement and told detectives that he was in New Orleans East when the shooting occurred. But detectives refuted the alibi assertion by using his cell phone to show that he was, in fact, near the murder scene when the shooting occurred. His cell phone data showed he went to New Orleans East only after the shooting.

In testimony Thursday, Spottsville admitted he lied to detectives about being in New Orleans East. Explaining why he fired a pistol, he asserted self-defense. He told jurors he was sitting on a sofa looking at his phone when he looked up to find a pistol pointed at him. During a tussle for the pistol, it fired, he testified. He wrestled the pistol away, fired it once at the surviving victim, dropped it and fled, Spottsville told jurors. He heard more gunfire as he ran to his car, he asserted.

Under cross-examination, Spottsville was pressed on why he raised self-defense only after his alibi effort failed. He was questioned about why the pistol he said he dropped in the living room was never found. And he was asked about why his and Green’s cell phone data showed they left the murder scene and went straight to Lake Pontchartrain’s Lincoln Beach in New Orleans East.

In rebuttal, prosecutors provided expert witness testimony to show that three bullet casings were found in the living room that were fired by the pistol that Spottsville said was fired only twice. Further, the location of the ejected bullet casings in the living room was consistent with where two witnesses said Spottsville stood when he shot Ovide and then the surviving victim. The evidence shows that all but one of the bullets that the trio fired in the apartment struck victims; the other bullet struck a wall.

Spottsville, Green and Walker were prosecuted as principals to the murders, meaning they were working in concert with each other in committing the crimes. A look at the convictions shows:

  • Green, 31, of New Orleans, was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted second-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without probation, parole or suspension of sentence in September 2018.
  • Walker, 29, of Marrero, was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted second-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without probation, parole or suspension of sentence in October 2021. Nine days after he was sentenced, Walker was found unresponsive at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
  • Archie Hulbert III, 39, of Algiers, pleaded guilty as charged to perjury in February 2018 and received a 7-year prison sentence. He admitted to lying to detectives about the time Green arrived at a Terrytown location after the murders occurred.

The jury that was seated on Monday deliberated almost four hours Thursday before unanimously convicting Spottsville of the murder and attempted murder counts, and for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He was prohibited from possessing guns because of a previous conviction of heroin possession in Jefferson Parish.

Judge Stephen Grefer of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Spottsville on Oct. 11.

Assistant District Attorneys Matthew Clauss and Blaine Moncrief prosecuted the case.

 

A manslaughter, an armed robbery and a battery send Shawn Carter to prison for 75 years

A Jefferson Parish judge on Monday (Aug. 21) sentenced Shawn Carter to 75 years in prison as a 3-time felon, based on his most recent conviction of robbing a Gretna convenience store while armed with a claw hammer.

Carter, 50, of Avondale, has a criminal history that includes beating a man to death using a hammer in 1994.

His most recent conviction occurred on July 26, when a Jefferson Parish jury found Carter guilty as charged of the armed robbery of a business in the 900 block of Lafayette Street.

At about 12:30 a.m., on Feb. 11, 2021, Carter walked into the business and approached the 42-year-old clerk who was seated behind the counter. Wielding a hammer, Carter ordered the clerk to surrender his cell phone and to refrain from activating the panic alarm. Carter then ordered the clerk to open the cash register and threatened to kill him if he did not comply.

After getting the cash, Carter fled with the clerk’s cell phone and three bottles of liquor. The Gretna Police Department linked Carter to the crime, leading to his arrest at his Avondale home by a federal task force.

At the time, Carter was on parole for his 1996 conviction of manslaughter.

That homicide occurred on June 1, 1994, when Carter, then age 20, fatally beat 21-year-old Christian Smith to death in Smith’s home in the 2100 block of Hancock Street in Gretna. Carter was charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter in exchange for a 40-year sentence. He was paroled in 2014.

On Monday, 24th Judicial District Judge Ray Steib sentenced Carter to 50 years in prison for the armed robbery. Judge Steib then resentenced Carter to 75 years in finding that he is 3-time felon under Louisiana’s habitual offender law. The predicate offenses included the armed robbery, the manslaughter and a conviction of battery of a correctional officer.

Assistant District Attorneys Laura Schneidau and Blaine Moncrief prosecuted the case.

Daniel Tenner convicted of murdering Mississippi woman during West Bank armed robbery

A Jefferson Parish jury on Tuesday night (Aug. 15) convicted Daniel Tenner of killing a Mississippi woman while robbing her during a cell phone sale arranged through social media.

Tenner, 21, of Jackson, Miss., is guilty as charged of the first-degree murder of Morgan Tyrone, 24, of Pascagoula, Miss., jurors unanimously decided after three hours of deliberations.

On the evening of April 10, 2022, Tyrone, her 22-year-old partner and their 13-month-old son traveled from Pascagoula to the West Bank so Tyrone could purchase an iPhone 13 for $300. Tyrone and a person she believed was a woman had been discussing the transaction through Facebook Marketplace. It was Tenner using a woman’s Facebook account.

Tenner directed Tyrone to an apartment complex in the 300 block of Friedrichs Road in unincorporated Gretna. There, Tenner approached the Tyrone’s minivan’s driver’s side window. During the ensuing discussion, he showed the phone he purportedly wanted to sell. He asked if they had the money and then asked if they had a tool with which he could remove the phone’s SIM card.

During that time, Tyrone and Tenner were hesitant to exchange the cash and phone. Growing doubtful that the transaction would occur, Tyrone turned away to put the cash on the minivan’s center console. That’s when Tenner brandished the pistol, pointed it at the left rear side of Tyrone’s head and shot her without provocation.

He then pointed the pistol at Tyrone’s partner in the front passenger’s seat and demanded the cash. He reached over Tyrone’s body to grab the cash and then ran away.

Tyrone’s partner called 911, but not knowing where she was, she flagged a passerby who was able to give the 911 operator their location.

Immediately after shooting Tyrone, Tenner fled to a nearby apartment and then to Jackson, Miss. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office received a tip via Crimestoppers identifying Tenner as the killer and giving his location. A U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force found and arrested Tenner in Jackson on May 17, 2022.

Sheriff’s Office detectives confirmed Tenner’s whereabouts, including placing him at the murder scene and fleeing north toward Jackson, by using his cell phone records.

During the 1 ½-hour interview with a detective, Tenner confessed. At its conclusion, the detective left Tenner alone in the room with pen and paper. Tenner penned a statement in which he admitted shooting Tyrone but asserted he did so because she “was grabbing something” or thought she was taking his iPhone. “I was giving the phone to you guys for a cheap price,” he wrote. “Yes, I am truly sorry with what happen [sic]. I am. I didn’t mean for nothing like that to happen.”

Jurors watched a video recording of that interview and read Tenner’s statement.

Tenner’s public defenders argued their client was not guilty. They asserted that he was armed because he was meeting strangers at night. Tenner became fearful when Tyrone turned away from him, the defense asserted. They also described it as “a tragic accident.” They said that Tenner did not have specific intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm, which are necessary elements of proving murder.

In closing argument Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney LaShanda Webb reminded jurors that Tenner threatened to kill Tyrone’s partner if she didn’t give him the cash.

“What more do you need to prove intent?” Webb argued. “If it wasn’t about robbery, why would he even take the money? Why would he reach over Morgan, who he just killed, to take the money?”

In addition to the murder, jurors found Tenner guilty of armed robbery and obstruction of justice – for discarding the firearm he used to kill Tyrone.

Judge Donald “Chick” Foret of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Tenner to a mandatory life sentence in prison on Sept. 15. The District Attorney’s Office did not seek the death penalty.

Assistant District Attorneys LaShanda Webb and Brittany Beckner prosecuted the case.

 

Sean Bennett pleads guilty to vehicular homicide for fatal Metairie collision, gets 17-year sentence

A Jefferson Parish judge on Thursday (Aug. 3) sentenced Sean Bennett to 17 years in prison, after he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of illegal narcotics when he caused a collision that killed a woman, injured her husband and injured another motorist in Metairie last year.

Bennett, 27, of Poplarville, Miss., pleaded guilty as charged to vehicular homicide for causing the death of Lyn Garnett, 75, of New Orleans.

He separately pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of vehicular negligent injury, and to driving with a suspended driver’s license. Garnett’s 72-year-old husband was injured, as was the 72-year-old driver of another vehicle.

Bennett had been using cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine when he was traveling north on Causeway Boulevard in a 2016 Nissan Altima at 105 mph on the morning of April 16, 2022.

As he approached the vehicles stopped at the red light at West Esplanade Avenue at 10:39 a.m., Bennett drove into Causeway’s dedicated right-turn lane to bypass the congestion.

He proceeded into the eastbound lane of West Esplanade, where his car collided with a 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe driven by a 72-year-old Westwego man.

After that collision, Bennett’s car fishtailed and spun out of control and into the westbound lanes of West Esplanade. His car then collided with the Garnetts’ 2000 Chrysler Voyager.

The event data recorder in Bennett’s vehicle showed his car was moving at 103 mph when it collided with the Garnett’s vehicle. At no time did Bennett apply his brakes as he ran the red light or after the collisions.

The Garnetts’ vehicle struck a traffic signal light post. Bennett’s car struck a tree and then a different traffic signal light post.

Lyn Garnett was rushed to a hospital and underwent emergency surgery. She died from her injuries on June 7, 2022. Her husband also was transported to a hospital for treatment.

The 72-year-old Westwego man was treated on the scene and then traveled to a hospital on his own.

At a hospital, Bennett told Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office investigators that he was hallucinating and thinking that someone was seeking his family to hurt them. So, he was rushing to his family, he asserted. He later pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.

In accepting his guilty pleas Thursday, and after hearing victim-impact testimony from numerous witnesses, 24th Judicial District Judge Shayna Beevers Morvant sentenced Bennett to 17 years in prison for the vehicular homicide and six months for each of the three misdemeanor charges. She ran the sentences concurrently.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Whitworth prosecuted the case.

 

Jefferson Parish mourns the passing of former DA John Mamoulides

The Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office mourns the death of John Mamoulides. His service to the citizens of Jefferson Parish, as an assistant district attorney, executive district attorney and as the elected district attorney, spanned three decades.

Before his retirement in 1996, Mr. Mamoulides left his mark not only on Jefferson Parish but on the state of Louisiana. After he was elected district attorney in 1972, Mr. Mamoulides was instrumental in the creation of the Louisiana District Attorney’s Association and later served as the elected president of the organization.

In Jefferson Parish, Mr. Mamoulides created the District Attorney’s Office pre-trial diversion program. Mr. Mamoulides also oversaw the creation of the Jefferson Children’s Advocacy Center, established the Child Support Enforcement Division and the Consumer Protection Division.

His legacy remains apparent today, as many of the programs he implemented during his tenure are still in place.

“His influence on our criminal justice system, both locally and statewide, cannot be overstated,” said District Attorney Paul D. Connick, Jr., who worked as an assistant district attorney under Mr. Mamoulides before he was elected to the post in 1996. It was a privilege to work for him.”

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family,” Mr. Connick said.

Click here to read Mr. Mamoulides’ obituary.

Click here to download our John Mamoulides statement.

On parole for ’94 homicide, Shawn Carter convicted of robbing Gretna store using a hammer

A Jefferson Parish jury on Wednesday (July 26) found Shawn Carter guilty of robbing a Gretna convenience store while using a hammer.

Carter, 50, of Avondale, is guilty as charged of the armed robbery of the business. At the time he committed this crime, Carter was on parole for killing a man by beating him to death with a hammer.

About 12:30 a.m., on Feb. 11, 2021, Carter walked into the convenience store in the 900 block of Lafayette Street. He immediately approached the 42-year-old clerk who was seated behind the counter.

Wielding the hammer, Carter demanded the clerk hand over his phone and to refrain from activating a panic alarm. He ordered the clerk to open the cash register and threatened to kill the clerk if he didn’t comply.

In opening the register, the clerk dropped the cash drawer. Carter ordered the clerk to pick up the money. The clerk refused, and so Carter grabbed him by the throat and pushed him to the floor.

Carter pocketed the money, and the clerk fled to a stock room and locked the door. Through a window in the door, the clerk observed Carter taking three bottles of liquor and fleeing on Lafayette Street toward the Mississippi River.

In addition to the cash and liquor, Carter stole the clerk’s iPhone. An hour later, Gretna Police Department detectives tracked the stolen phone to a yard in the 600 block of 6th Street, about six blocks away from the crime scene. Carter’s fingerprint later was found on the phone, leading detectives to identify Carter as their suspect.

As he fled into the residential neighborhood after committing the armed robbery, Carter discarded his Atlanta Falcons cap and shirt in the 400 block of 9th Street. Gretna police recovered that evidence using a canine, Max, which tracked Carter’s scent from the crime scene. While canvassing the area for more evidence, officers found the claw hammer in a storm drain in that same block.

The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force located and arrested Carter at his Avondale home on March 3, 2021.

A Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab DNA analyst, meanwhile, found Carter’s genetic material on the cap, shirt and hammer.

On June 1, 1994, Carter used a hammer to beat Christian Smith to death. Smith, 20, was found in his home in the 2100 block of Hancock Street in Gretna. The hammer was still embedded in his skull.

Carter fled with the Smith’s car and his property, including a mobile phone. Indicted for first-degree murder, he pleaded guilty in 1996 to manslaughter and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. He was paroled in 2014.

The jury, which heard evidence about the 1994 homicide, deliberated less than 50 minutes in finding Carter guilty as charged of the armed robbery. Judge Ray Steib of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Carter on Aug. 21.

Assistant District Attorneys Laura Schneidau and Blaine Moncrief prosecuted the case.

Lamonte Loggins convicted of murdering Kenner store clerk during armed robbery

A Jefferson Parish jury on Wednesday evening (July 26) convicted Lamonte Loggins of standing over a helpless convenience store clerk during an armed robbery in Kenner and firing a 9mm bullet into his chest, killing him.

Loggins, 30, of Kenner, is guilty as charged of the first-degree murder of Abd El Ghader Sylla, 30. Sylla, whose wife was pregnant with their child, was working the overnight shift at the business at Williams Boulevard and West Esplanade Avenue when Loggins shot him.

Mortally wounded, Sylla still was able to call 911, saying he was “about to die.”

“I got shot. I got robbed, and I got shot,” he told the 911 operator before dropping the phone. He died from his injury soon after at a New Orleans hospital.

Loggins and his older brother, Eric Rodgers, planned the armed robbery and cased the business hours earlier. About 2 a.m., on Nov. 30, 2020, Rodgers entered the store, followed by Loggins. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they wore masks.

After pouring a cup of coffee and discussing liquor with Sylla, Loggins brandished a 9mm pistol and demanded cash. As he pulled out the pistol, a latex glove fell out of his pocket – Loggins’ DNA later was found on that glove.

Sylla dropped to his knees and held his hands over his head as he complied with Loggins’ demands. Sylla opened the register and removed the cash drawer so Loggins could get the money.

Without being provoked, Loggins then walked around the counter and began beating Sylla in the head with the pistol. Sylla fell onto his back as the beating continued. Loggins stood back and fired the bullet into Sylla’s chest, even as the victim pleadingly held his hands in the air in front of him.

Loggins and Rodgers fled to their car parked blocks away, as Sylla, still on his back on the floor behind the counter, called 911. He remained there until Kenner Police Department officers arrived.

During the ensuing investigation, Kenner Police Department detectives used numerous businesses’ and residences’ video surveillance cameras to track the suspects’ movement from the crime scene to the Lorie Drive apartment complex where both men lived.

But Loggins and Rodgers had gone to Biloxi, Miss., where they spent a night in a hotel and where Loggins threw the pistol into a business’s garbage receptacle. The following day, they caught bus to Memphis, Tenn., where they previously lived.

More than a week later, Rodgers called the Kenner Police Department. He told the lead case detective, Aaron Savoie, that Loggins killed Sylla. Federal marshals and local police arrested Loggins in Memphis on Dec. 8, 2020.

Rodgers, 32, pleaded guilty on Sept. 28, 2022 to manslaughter, obstruction of justice and armed robbery for his role in the crime. He received a 40-year sentence.

On Tuesday, as part of a plea agreement, Rodgers testified that he and Loggins planned the robbery, and that he was a participant because his government unemployment assistance hadn’t been credited to his debit card. But Rodgers testified that he did not know Loggins was going to shoot the clerk.

Under cross-examination by Loggins’ public defender, Rodgers was accused of urging Loggins to shoot Sylla. Rodgers, who has distinctive tattoos on his forehead and hands, was a regular customer at the business and could be easily identified, Loggins’ attorney argued. The defense attorney also argued that the state did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the gunshot killed Sylla, suggesting that  the medical treatment the victim received at the hospital could have caused his death.

The jury deliberated about an hour before returning with its verdicts. In addition to first-degree murder, jurors found Loggins guilty as charged of obstruction of justice, for tossing the murder weapon in a business’s garbage receptacle in Biloxi. Loggins also tossed the bullets from that pistol in a drainage canal in Kenner before he and Rodgers fled the state.

Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Loggins Aug. 9.

Assistant District Attorneys Carolyn Chkautovich and Brittany Beckner prosecuted the case.