Month: March 2022

Jefferson Parish jury: Pedro Monterroso murdered girlfriend, left young sons with her body

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday (March 24) deliberated just over 20 minutes in convicting Pedro Monterroso of beating his girlfriend to death in their Metairie apartment while five of his children lay in a bed just feet away.

Monterroso, 51, is guilty as charged of the second-degree murder of Heidy Monroy, 24. The crime occurred in the early morning hours of July 13, 2014, in the apartment they shared in the 4000 block of Durand Street.

According to evidence presented at trial, Monterroso argued with Monroy over whether she was involved with another man. The fight turned physical, and he fatally beat and stabbed her as she lay in a bathtub. She died from blunt-force injuries to her head, and her hands had injuries indicative of defensive wounds.

After killing her, he rounded up three of his five children that were in the apartment and fled to Texas. The youngest of the three was a son he had with Monroy, a child who was whisked away wearing only a diaper, according to testimony. Monterroso fathered the other two children with Monroy’s sister.

Monterroso left behind in the apartment his two sons whom he fathered with Monroy. The boys found their mother’s nude body in the tub and sought help from a neighbor. That person notified the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, according to trial evidence.

Monterroso “just left them there to fend for themselves,” Assistant District Attorney Kellie Rish told jurors in closing argument.

Monterroso was arrested the following day in Katy, Texas, and later extradited to Jefferson Parish to face charges.

In the apartment, investigators found a length of rebar wrapped in duct tape. Monterroso’s DNA was recovered from one end of the bar. Monroy’s hair and blood was found on the other end, according to testimony.

Monterroso used numerous aliases, including Pedro Monterroso Navas, Pedro Alberto Monterroso Navas, Wilson Rigoberto Varela Mena, Marlin Jovani Varela Mena, Carlos Humberto Cisneros Avila and Alberto Cisneros.

During the three-day trial, jurors heard testimony showing that Monterroso was physically abusive to Monroy, her sister and his children. The abuse included him hanging them upside-down using chains while they lived in Central America.

Jurors also heard that he was romantically involved with Monroy’s sister, who bore four of his children while she was unaware that he was married to another woman. And while in this relationship, Monterroso began having a relationship with her younger sister Heidy Monroy, who was a juvenile when it started. He fathered children with her, too, according to testimony.

While acknowledging that their client killed Monroy, Monterroso’s attorneys urged the jury to not be swayed by sympathy for the children. The attorneys asked jurors find Monterroso guilty of negligent homicide, a crime that is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence is the mandatory punishment for second-degree murder. Judge Donald “Chick” Foret of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Monterroso on May 4.

Assistant District Attorney Zach Popovich assisted ADA Rish in prosecuting Monterroso.

Long Nguyen convicted in marijuana conspiracy, distribution case

A Jefferson Parish jury on Tuesday (March 15) deliberated about 20 minutes in finding Long Nguyen guilty of conspiring to have large amounts of marijuana shipped from California for local distribution.

Nguyen, 45, was convicted as charged of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana (greater than 2.5 lbs.), money laundering ($20,000 – $99,000) and providing a false name to a law enforcement officer.

During the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office investigation that began in 2019, the narcotics agents seized more than 50 pounds of marijuana, all of which was displayed for the jury as evidence during the two-day trial.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know what you’re doing with all that marijuana if you’re not trying to distribute it,” Assistant District Attorney Michael Morales, standing over the mound of marijuana bags on the floor in front of the jury box, told jurors in closing argument Tuesday.

The agents opened the investigation after receiving information showing Nguyen’s wife was involved in illegal marijuana transactions. The investigation led the Jefferson Parish agents to Nguyen’s rented homes in the Gretna area, in the Gentilly area, Algiers, and Belle Chasse, according to trial testimony.

Nguyen conspired with others, some known and others unknown, to have marijuana shipped from Garden Grove, Calif., to Jefferson Parish through commercial carriers. The marijuana was contained in vacuum-sealed bags, which were contained in gold or green foil bags. Those, in turn, were packed in cardboard boxes that were lined with thin pieces of plywood, according to evidence presented to jurors.

The agents seized marijuana from several apartments, a storage unit and a UPS distribution center on the West Bank. One box, containing about seven pounds of marijuana, was mistakenly delivered to a Terrytown apartment, according to testimony. The shocked residents there called 911. They, too, were investigated and were cleared of criminal involvement, agents testified.

The agents recovered more than $8,000 in cash. They also found receipts for money orders and cashier’s checks totaling $46,000, all obtained in small monetary increments during a two-month period in 2019. Agents testified that such transactions are structured this way to not attract attention. The money was sent to a California bank, and Nguyen had a debit card from that same bank, according to trial evidence.

Under Louisiana law, money laundering is the possession of money that is the proceeds of a felony. When agents initially arrested Nguyen in January 2021, he provided a false name, leading to his conviction of that offense.

Nguyen, who required a Vietnamese-speaking interpreter, did not testify. Through his attorneys, he blamed his wife, Bich Nguyen, for being the marijuana dealer and asserted he had nothing to do with the criminal activities. However, agents obtained recordings of phone calls between the couple while he was jailed awaiting trial. In those calls, he directed his wife in matters of marijuana distribution, proving that he was involved in the conspiracy.

Bich Nguyen, 51, has twice pleaded guilty in connection with the marijuana distribution. In October 2020, she pleaded guilty as charged to conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana and money laundering ($20,000 – $99,000). She was given three years of probation.

However, her probation was revoked, and she was sentenced to the three years at hard labor after she was arrested again for possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

The second arrest was in February 2021, when agents investigating her and her husband recovered marijuana in the Gretna-area apartment and in a storage unit. She pleaded guilty in May 2021 to conspiracy to distribute marijuana (greater than 2.5 lbs.) and possession with intent to distribute marijuana (greater than 2.5 lbs.). She received another 3-year prison sentence.

Two other men have pleaded guilty in connection with the investigation:

  • Man Danh, 54, of Gretna, pleaded guilty in October 2020 to conspiracy to possess marijuana (less than 2.5 lbs.), money laundering ($20,000 – $99,000), and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. He received a 5-year sentence.
  • Nghia Hoaung, 41, of Belle Chasse, pleaded guilty in November 2021 to possession with intent to distribute marijuana (less than 2.5 lbs.). A 5-year prison sentence was suspended, and he was sentenced to three years of active probation.

Judge Frank Brindisi of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Long Nguyen on April 11.

Assistant District Attorney Gabrielle Hosli lead the prosecution of Long Nguyen with assistance of Michael Morales. Assistant District Attorney Joshua Vanderhooft prosecuted Bich Nguyen and Nghia Hoaung. Assistant District Attorney Rachel Africk prosecuted Man Danh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For killing his girlfriend, Christopher Davis sentenced to life in prison

A Jefferson Parish judge on Monday (March 14) sentenced Christopher Davis to spend the rest of his life in prison for his conviction of shooting his girlfriend in the back of her head as she walked away from an argument.

Davis, 40, who has a history of domestic violence, was convicted last week of the second-degree murder of Lashonda Davis, 34, who died just outside the doorway to his Faith Place apartment in Terrytown on Jan. 5, 2020.

Life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence is the mandatory punishment for second-degree murder.

“All of our family has been given a life sentence,” her father Kenneth Sands told the court in impact testimony. “It’s time for the defendant to get his.”

The daughter of two military parents, she was born aboard Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., and lived throughout the United States, her father testified. She left behind three sons. Her 9-year-old sister wrote a letter to the court in lieu of live testimony. Assistant District Attorney Lindsay Truhe, who led the prosecution, read the letter aloud in court.

Sands had dated Davis about two years. Shortly before Davis murdered her, Sands received a text message from someone informing her of the death of a friend. Distraught over the news, she did not respond to Davis’ demands that she identify the person who died. An argument ensued, and he retrieved a .38-caliber revolver and fired it as she walked out of the apartment, according to trial testimony.

Members of her family traveled to the Jefferson Parish courthouse in Gretna from other states and as far as the Bahamas to attend last week’s trial. A jury deliberated about 40 minutes Thursday in unanimously finding Davis guilty as charged.

Earlier last week, Judge Nancy Miller of the 24th Judicial District Court, who presided over the murder trial, sentenced Davis to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He was legally barred from having guns because of a domestic violence conviction involving another woman.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Rachel Africk prosecuted the case.

Dalton Breaux III guilty in Marrero rape

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday evening (March 10) found Dalton Breaux III guilty of breaking into a woman’s Marrero home and raping her.

Breaux, 40, of Marrero, was convicted of third-degree rape and of attempted unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling for the June 25, 2019, crime. Breaux and the 27-year-old victim knew each other.

According to evidence presented at trial, Breaux walked to the woman’s home, entered the fenced-in yard and used tools to pry open a bathroom window that overlooked an alley.

The victim was roused from sleep by her dogs barking and saw Breaux standing in the bedroom holding a hammer. After raping her, he fled, leaving behind his boxer underwear.

In the grass outside the bathroom window, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office investigators found a lawn chair that Breaux used to climb inside, a pry bar and screwdriver, and a jug of water. Detectives obtained video surveillance from a nearby home showing Breaux walking down the street toward the victim’s home carrying a jug of water, according to trial testimony.

Breaux’s DNA was recovered from the victim’s body and from the boxers that he left at the crime scene, according to testimony. The victim also suffered from bruising she received during the attack.

Breaux testified that the encounter was consensual.

Jurors deliberated just over two hours before returning with the verdict. Breaux was charged with second-degree rape, but jurors returned with the lesser charge of third-degree rape.

Judge Stephen Grefer of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Breaux on April 13.

Assistant District Attorneys Zachary Popovich and Tucker Wimberly prosecuted the case.

Christopher Davis convicted of murdering his girlfriend in Terrytown

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday (March 10) found Christopher Davis guilty of shooting his girlfriend in the back of her head as she walked away from an argument.

Davis, 30, was convicted as charged of the second-degree murder of Lashonda Sands, 34.

A dating couple for about two years, Sands and Davis got into an argument just after midnight on Jan. 5, 2020, in his apartment in the 1900 block of Faith Place in Terrytown, according to trial testimony.

The argument began after she received a text message on her mobile device from someone who informed her of the death of a good friend. Word of the death led Sands to weep. Davis wanted to know who died, but she did not respond.

Her silence led Davis to argue with her, and that led to a physical altercation, according to evidence presented at trial.

Davis left the living room where the altercation occurred and retrieved his .38-caliber revolver. As he returned, a friend of the couple who was visiting at the time attempted to stop Davis, according to trial testimony.

Sands, meanwhile, walked out the apartment door. Davis shoved his friend to the side and extended his right hand under the friend’s arm and fired once, according to trial evidence.

The bullet struck her in the back of her head. Sands, the mother of three children, collapsed and died just outside the apartment entrance.

Davis’ young son was in the apartment, playing games when the shooting happened. Davis called 911 and lied to the operator, according to trial testimony.

He told he operator that he was inside the apartment when he heard a “pop” outside and found Sands bleeding from the head.

Deputies later found Davis’ revolver hidden in a bucket filled with his child’s toys. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office’s ballistics experts determined that the revolver was the murder weapon.

Davis’ attorneys argued that the revolver accidentally fired while the friend tried to stop him. The killing was not intentional, the attorneys argued.

Davis had a history of abusive and violent behavior toward Sands, according to trial testimony. In one incident, David threatened to retrieve a gun from a car so he could shoot her, a witness testified. In another incident, he fired three bullets into the ground during an argument, that witness testified. Never were police notified, the witness testified.

The jury deliberated about 40 minutes. Judge Nancy Miller of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Davis on Monday (March 14). Second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.

On Tuesday, Davis pleaded guilty as charged to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm in connection with his having the .38-caliber revolver. Judge Miller sentenced him to 10 years in prison for that offense.

Davis was legally prohibited from having guns because of a 2017 conviction of domestic abuse battery. In that case, Davis beat a woman with whom he had had romantic relationship.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Rachel Africk prosecuted the case.