Month: December 2024

Gerald Barker sentenced to back-to-back life sentences for double-murder

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (Dec. 18) sentenced Gerald “Bird” Barker to back-to-back life sentences in prison for executing two people in a Westwego residence from where he sometimes sold crack cocaine.

Barker, 37, will serve the life sentences for the second-degree murders of Linda Turner, 68, and Curtis Thomas, 51, who were shot inside Turner’s home in the 600 block of Emile Avenue on Jan. 17, 2023.

A Jefferson Parish jury on Dec. 4 deliberated about 20 minutes in finding Barker guilty as charged of killing Turner and Thomas, in addition to convicting him of obstruction of justice, possession of cocaine and of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

Turner owned the home in which she died. She allowed Barker to sell narcotics from the home, and Barker later confessed to a Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office detective that he helped her pay her bills because of this arrangement.

At about 9 p.m. Jan. 17, 2023, an acquaintance of theirs went to the home, discovered the bodies and called 911. Deputies found Thomas lying in a pool of his blood on the living room floor just inside the front door. He was pronounced dead at the scene. They found Turner seated on her sofa in the living room suffering from gunshot wounds. She died shortly after at a hospital.

The physical evidence shows that Thomas was standing just inside the front door when Barker, standing in the doorway, shot him in the back of his head, according to an expert in crime scene reconstruction. Thomas fell to the ground, and Barker stood over him and shot him in the face. Barker then entered the living room and shot Turner in her face, arm and head, according to the expert.

Detectives developed Barker as a suspect almost immediately. They also obtained surveillance video from a nearby residence showing that immediately after the murders, Barker ran from the house.

The detectives learned that Barker ran to his friend Lee Wings’ home less than a mile away, on Gwen Street.

Armed with an arrest warrant, members of the U.S. Marshals Service Gulf Coast Fugitive Task Force located Barker at an addiction treatment facility in New Orleans in March 2023 and took him into custody.

During his interview with the Sheriff’s Office, Barker admitted he sold crack cocaine from the Turner’s home and occasionally resided there. But he said he was at Wing’s home when Turner and Thomas were slain. He eventually confessed to shooting the two people.

“I hope and pray that you never see the streets again. Ever,” Thomas’s ex-wife told the court Wednesday in victim-impact testimony. “It was uncalled for. It was totally uncalled for. I know your family can see you again. We can never see him again. It’s never.”

Before announcing the sentences, Judge Frank Brindisi of the 24th Judicial District Court told Barker he is “incorrigible,” citing his numerous convictions of possession of cocaine since 2007.

“I don’t think you’ll ever go straight,” Judge Brindisi told him. “I think you’re a one-man crime wave.”

For the murders, he sentenced Barker to the mandatory life sentences, to be served without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. He ran the sentences consecutively.

Judge Brindisi separately sentenced Barker to 40 years for obstruction of justice and fined him $100,000, for eliminating the murder weapon; two years for possession of cocaine; and, 20 years for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Barker was prohibited from possessing firearms because of a 2018 conviction of possession of cocaine.

“Mr. Barker, you’re going where you need to be,” Judge Brindisi told him. “Good luck.”

Separately, Barker’s co-defendant, Wings, 59, pleaded guilty Wednesday to accessory after the fact to second-degree murder and was sentenced to three years of active probation. After Barker committed the murders, Wings drove Barker to the east bank of Jefferson Parish, stopping on the Crescent City Connection along the way so that Barker could toss the murder weapon into the Mississippi River. After returning to the West Bank, Wings left Barker at a motel.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Tommy Block prosecuted the case.

Anthony Morgan convicted of murder in Airline Drive ‘ambush’ shooting

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday (Dec. 5) found Anthony Morgan guilty of brazenly ambushing a man who was sitting in his car at an Airline Drive intersection in Metairie when he was fatally shot.

Morgan, 44, of Metairie, was convicted of the second-degree murder of Aaron Lee, 44, also of Metairie. Lee was shot multiple times as he sat in the driver’s seat of his Dodge Charger, waiting for the traffic light to change at Airline Drive and Turnbull Drive on April 25, 2022.

Responding to 911 calls at about 12:45 a.m., Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies found Lee inside the Charger, which was in westbound Airline’s left turn lane. Although he was shot four times, including a fatal wound to his left eye, Lee had not yet died. He had a loaded shotgun with a sawed-off barrel in his lap.

Nearby, the deputies found an unoccupied Infiniti M37, in Turnbull’s northbound lane at Airline – the car Morgan was in.

Detectives obtained surveillance footage from nearby businesses showing Morgan arriving at the intersection in the Infiniti. Seventeen seconds later, he stepped out of the vehicle, stumbling at first and losing his cap.

Carrying an assault-style semiautomatic rifle, Morgan began shooting as he backed away from Lee. Morgan then changed course, aggressively moving toward Lee, in all firing more than 47 .223-caliber bullets as he focused his fire on his target.

“That’s a guerilla-style ambush in the middle of Airline Highway,” Assistant District Attorney Brendan Bowen told jurors in closing argument Thursday.

Morgan, who lived a half-block from the murder scene, then fled on foot into the adjacent neighborhood, leaving the Infiniti and his cap on the roadway.

Detectives found a car registered to Morgan parked nearby with the rifle he used inside it, along with his cell phone. The detectives identified Morgan as the shooter and obtained an arrest warrant. A U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force arrested Morgan four days after the shooting at an apartment in eastern New Orleans.

Detectives also learned that Lee and Morgan had been intimately involved with the same woman, and that there were ongoing hostilities between the men.

Morgan initially denied involvement and told a detective that he was with “a call girl” when Lee was shot. However, his DNA was recovered from the cap that fell from his head as he stumbled out of the Infiniti. Morgan now asserts self-defense.

Morgan told jurors Wednesday he carried an assault-style rifle for protection and said he had heard that Lee believed he killed an acquaintance in the Shrewsbury neighborhood. He described himself as the victim of an ambush and started shooting Lee only after Lee stepped out of his car and pointed a rifle at him as a second gunman fired from behind him.

However, evidence shows that Lee was seated inside his car when he was shot in his left eye, and that the bullet had passed through the windshield or driver’s side window and was tumbling when it struck him, according to the pathologist who conducted the autopsy and a crime scene reconstruction expert. Further, there was no blood or biological matter found on the outside of Lee’s white car, indicating that he had not stepped out of the driver’s seat to shoot at Morgan when he was shot.

The evidence shows that Morgan was not in imminent danger when he shot Lee, meaning his actions in shooting Lee were not reasonable or justifiable, Assistant District Attorney Kristen Landrieu told jurors Thursday.  “Aaron Lee should be with his family,” she argued. “He should be celebrating birthdays and Christmas and Thanksgiving. And he’s not, because Anthony Morgan took things into his own hands. This is a second-degree murder. There is no other option.”

Following his arrest and while held in the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center, Morgan enlisted Brittany M. Schoeppner and Joseph A. Freeman Jr., to retrieve a semiautomatic rifle from his apartment to hinder the ongoing murder investigation. They complied with the request.

Schoeppner, 32, of Kenner, pleaded guilty on July 11 to obstruction of justice and to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. She then pleaded guilty under the state’s habitual offender law and was sentenced to 13 years and four months in prison. She was forbidden to carry firearms because of prior a narcotic conviction in New Orleans.

Freeman, 58, of Metairie, pleaded guilty on April 11 to obstruction of justice and to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He received a 10-year prison sentence. He was forbidden from possessing firearms because of a prior narcotics conviction in Jefferson Parish and a simple burglary conviction in New Orleans.

In addition to second-degree murder, Morgan was convicted of three counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of obstruction of justice. He was prohibited from carrying firearms because of narcotics convictions in New Orleans.

The jury that was seated Monday deliberated less than one hour in finding him guilty of all six counts.

Judge June Berry Darensburg of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Morgan on Jan. 23.

Assistant District Attorneys Kristen Landrieu and Brendan Bowen prosecuted the case.

Oswaldo Dacunha sentenced to life in prison for Kenner murder

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (Dec. 4) sentenced Oswaldo Dacunha to life in prison for his conviction of murdering a man outside a Kenner convenience store.

Dacunha, 61, of Kenner, was convicted by a jury last month of the second-degree murder of Alejandro Quiroz, 43, in the early morning hours of Sept. 3, 2022. Just two hours before Dacunha shot Quiroz, he and the victim and another man drank beers together as they loitered on side of the business at Loyola Drive and Clemson Drive.

After shooting Quiroz, Dacunha disposed of the murder weapon, leading to his conviction of obstruction of justice.

Click here to read about the trial.

In 24th Judicial District Judge Nancy Miller’s courtroom on Wednesday, two relatives provided victim-witness testimony via written statements, which were read aloud by an interpreter.

Judge Miller then sentenced Dacunha to mandatory life in prison without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. Judge Miller also sentenced Dacunha to 20 years in prison for obstruction of justice. The judge ran the sentences concurrently.

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

Cody Labranche sentenced to two life sentences plus 40 years for Metairie double murder

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (Dec. 4) sentenced Cody Labranche to back-to-back life sentences, plus 40 years in prison for his conviction of murdering two men in their Metairie home.

Labranche, 30, of Ponchatoula, received the mandatory sentence for the first-degree murders of Jonathan Pizzuto, 39, and his roommate William Mitchell, 36.

Labranche shot the men in the living room of their home in the 600 block of Rosa Avenue on Jan. 17, 2002, as the victims played video games. Pizzuto had been in a long-term romantic relationship with Labranche’s sister, who overdosed inside the residence in July 2020. Labranche blamed Pizzuto for her death.

Following his arrest and during his trial, Labranche asserted self-defense, saying that as he entered the living room, he thought Mitchell was reaching for a weapon. So, he opened fire. The crime scene reconstruction refutes Labranche’s self-defense claim.

A Jefferson Parish jury on Nov. 8 found Labranche guilty as charged.

Click here to read about the trial.

In addition to the murders, Labranche was convicted of obstruction of justice, for hindering the investigation by disposing of the murder weapon. He told detectives he tossed the pistol in a river.

On Wednesday, family members recounted in victim-impact testimony how Pizzuto deeply mourned Labranche’s sister’s death; they were a couple for more than a decade, and their ashes are together now “for eternity,” one relative said.

“You killed these boys because you were evil and sick-minded,” Pizzuto’s mother testified, adding that Pizzuto’s teenage nephew was playing video games with his uncle on that night and heard the gunfire through the tv game console, unaware of what was happening.

In a prepared statement read aloud in court, Mitchell’s sister said her brother “died trying to get out of the door” when Labranche began shooting. She noted her brother also mourned the death of Labranche’s sister and even drove from California to attend her funeral.

Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Labranche to life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence, and 40 years for the obstruction of justice. Judge Kovach ran the sentences consecutively.

Assistant District Attorneys Megan Gorman and Alyssa Aleman prosecuted the case.

 

Donte Allen gets 25-year sentence for abusing dementia victim during residential burglaries

A Jefferson Parish judge has sentenced Donte Allen to 25 years in prison, for his convictions of repeatedly entering a Metairie home where a woman suffering from dementia resided, sexually abusing her, cooking at least one meal and taking items.

Allen, 24, of Kenner, was convicted on Oct. 16 of sexual battery of the infirm, three counts of simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling, attempted disarming of a police officer, resisting police by force or violence, resisting an officer and criminal trespassing. His sentencing hearing was held on Nov. 18.

Allen had entered the Bruin Drive home at least four times. A 62-year-old immigrant who could not speak English and whose dementia left her unable to communicate resided in the home where relatives cared for her. She was left alone while family member worked.

In April 2021, relatives of the victim called 911, reporting that someone had been in the house cooking. Surveillance cameras at the residence were not operable, and a deputy found no evidence of other crimes.

Two days later, a relative went to the house and noticed a strange cell phone plugged into a wall, charging. That relative and his brother waited at the house to determine whether it belonged to the person they suspected had been entering the house.

The cell phone’s owner – Allen – arrived at the house that afternoon and let himself in with a key. One of the relatives confronted him and told him to drop the key. Allen did so and said he was a friend of the victim’s and returned to retrieve his cell phone. Another relative held Allen at gunpoint until the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office arrived. But before deputies arrived, Allen fled on a bicycle, leaving his cell phone behind.

In late April, a relative arrived at the house to find Allen lying on a bed. He fled. The family found a broken window, indicating that was how Allen entered. Again, the victim was unable to communicate with deputies or her family about what transpired.

Days later, when the surveillance cameras were operable, Allen returned. Failing to force open a door with his hips, he broke a window to get inside. The victim was sleeping on a living room sofa as Allen walked around the residence.

At one point, he’s recorded entering the living room wearing only his boxer shorts. He picked up the victim and carried her to a room that was not equipped with cameras. A short time later, he returned to the living room, completely naked and sexually aroused.

He remained in the residence for several hours, rummaging through the property and later is seen putting items into a backpack. A relative arrived at the residence that night and found him inside. He fled.

The Sheriff’s Office identified Allen as a suspect by comparing his behavior to other trespassing and burglary investigations and through his booking photograph. On the cell phone Allen left at the residence in early April, detectives recovered a phone number they linked to Allen.

Deputies arrested Allen on May 10, 2021, while responding to a burglary-in-progress on Judith Street. They encountered Allen inside the home. He violently resisted and fled. The deputies caught him hiding in a nearby backyard shed. One of the deputies was injured during the arrest.

When connected to the Bruin Drive crimes, Allen told detectives that he met the victim while she was walking. She invited him to her home, and she gave him money, he asserted. He said she also gave him a spare key.

And he asserted that the victim orally agreed to sexual relations with him – again, she could not speak English.

Allen pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. His attorney asserted that Allen is schizophrenic and believed he had a consensual sexual relationship with the victim.

He waived a trial by jury, leaving it to 24th Judicial District Judge June Berry Darensburg to hear the evidence and render a verdict. Following the two-day trial, and after hearing testimony from psychiatrists for the state and the defense to determine whether Allen knew right from wrong when committing his crimes, Judge Darensburg found Allen guilty as charged after about ½ hour of deliberation on Oct. 16.

During the sentencing hearing on Nov. 18, Judge Darensburg rejected defense motions to overturn the verdict and grant Allen a new trial. In impact testimony, the victim’s sister thanked the court, the prosecution and the Sheriff’s Office for the work they did in the case.

Judge Darensburg sentenced Allen to 25 years in prison for sexual battery, without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence; seven years in prison for each of the three burglary charges; and, two years in prison for each of the attempted disarming of a police officer and resisting police by force or violence. For the two misdemeanors, she sentenced Allen to 30 days for resisting an officer and six months for criminal trespassing.

Judge Darensburg ran the sentences concurrent with each other, for a total of 25 years. Allen also will have to register as a sex offender.

Assistant District Attorneys Kristen Landrieu and Zach Grate prosecuted the case.