Author: Paul Purpura

After fatally punching parish jail inmate, Press Shorter gets 70-year sentence

A Jefferson Parish judge on Monday (Nov. 14) sentenced Press Shorter III to 70 years in prison in finding he is a two-time felon under Louisiana’s habitual offender law.

Shorter’s most recent was conviction was for manslaughter. Shorter, 30, of Harvey, caused the death of Brian Alexander while they were Jefferson Parish Correctional Center inmates.

On Sept. 4, 2018, both men were in line to shower when Shorter struck Alexander three to four times in his head. Alexander fell backwards, his head striking the floor.

Shorter has a history of committing batteries on others. He twice struck two fellow inmates, breaking each man’s jaw bones, and he has struck corrections officers and deputies. “He has a record of being extremely violent, even when he’s incarcerated,” Assistant District Attorney Joan Benge argued in court.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office investigators initially believed that Alexander had fallen, and the incident was treated as a medical roll. Doctors at University Medical Center, however, concluded that Alexander’s injuries were not consistent with a fall.

Alexander was kept on life support until his family could arrive at the hospital. Knowing that he would not survive, the family authorized his removal from life support. Alexander, 49, of Loranger, later died. He was in the correctional center awaiting trial for a first-degree robbery charge when Shorter attacked him.

During the subsequent investigation, Sheriff’s Office investigators determined that Shorter had complained in phone conversations about being unable to shower. On the day in question, Alexander was ahead of Shorter in the line to shower. And within 1 ½ hours of striking Alexander, Shorter was on the phone with his girlfriend, telling her he “knocked” Alexander “clean out.”

The autopsy showed that in addition to wounds to his face and head, Alexander’s skull was fractured, and his brain was swollen. Blunt force trauma caused his death, which was classified as a homicide.

A Jefferson Parish jury on Feb. 16 unanimously convicted Shorter as charged of manslaughter. After denying post-verdict defense motions to overturn the conviction, and after hearing impact testimony from Alexander’s ex-wife, 24th Judicial District Judge Danyelle Taylor on March 1 sentenced Shorter to 40 years in prison, the maximum for manslaughter.

She then ran that sentence consecutive to the 20 years she gave Shorter in January after he pleaded guilty to illegal firearms possession, resisting arrest by for or violence and narcotics offences – charges for which he was confined to the correctional center when he struck Alexander.

That meant Shorter was serving a 60-year sentence, at hard labor.

On Monday, Judge Taylor found that Shorter is a double offender, considering his conviction of a second-degree battery he committed in 2013. That and the manslaughter are crimes of violence. Judge Taylor vacated the 40-year sentence she gave Shorter for the manslaughter and resentenced him to 50 years as a double offender, bringing his total punishment to 70 years without benefit of probation or suspension of sentence.

Assistant District Attorney Joan Benge prosecuted the case.

 

Westwego man convicted of possessing pornographic images of children

A Jefferson Parish jury on Wednesday night (Nov. 9) convicted Jagon Eldridge of possession of child pornography.

Eldridge, 49, formerly of Westwego, is guilty as charged of eight counts of possessing pornographic images involving children under age 13.

Eldridge was arrested in May 2018, by Special agents with the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation’s Cyber Crime Unit.

A special agent was involved in an undercover investigation of child pornography on the internet when in February 2017 he uncovered illegal images that were tracked to Eldridge. A search of his Avenue G home yielded images and videos of victims.

Through his attorney, Eldridge asserted a number of defenses, including that the state could not prove that the images belonged to him.

The jury deliberated about 45 minutes before returning with its unanimous verdicts. Judge Stephen Enright of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Eldridge on Thursday (Nov. 17).

Assistant District Attorney’s Piper Didier and Seth Shute prosecuted the case.

Kenner teen sentenced to life with parole eligibility for kidnapping elderly couple

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (Nov. 9) sentenced Alexsy Mejia to life in prison with parole eligibility after 25 years for his conviction of kidnapping an elderly couple from their Metairie home.

Mejia, 18, of Kenner, also was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his conviction of aggravated burglary, a crime that preceded his forcing the 91-year-old man and 81-year-old woman to drive him to their Kenner bank at gunpoint.

Mejia was 16 years old at the time of the crimes and was charged and prosecuted as an adult. He knew the victims because they paid him to occasionally do yard work for them.

On the afternoon of July 9, 2021, Mejia armed himself with a .38-caliber revolver, concealed his identity by wearing a mask and broke into the couple’s home through a bathroom window. He demanded the couple give him $100,000 so he could purchase a car.

Because the couple had no cash in the home, Mejia forced them at gunpoint to drive to their bank in Kenner in the 3500 block of Williams Boulevard. From the back seat, he pointed the pistol at the 91-year-old man’s head during the drive.

Once at the bank, the couple convinced Mejia that they both needed to go inside to obtain the money. Mejia told them he had an accomplice who would blow up their house if they called police. Once inside, the couple alerted the bank branch manager, who called police.

As the first Kenner police officers arrived, Mejia fled on foot. After a brief pursuit, Mejia was arrested blocks away, hiding in a garbage can behind a residence in the 3600 block of Martinique Avenue. Mejia later confessed to committing the crimes to Jefferson Parish detectives.

A Jefferson Parish jury on Oct. 26, deliberated about 40 minutes in unanimously convicting Mejia as charged of two counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of aggravated burglary.

In written impact testimony read aloud by a prosecutor during Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, the couple wrote they trusted Mejia and paid him to do household jobs for them. They’ve since forgiven him and “hope that he can move on in a positive way” with his life, the couple wrote.

Life in prison is the mandatory punishment for aggravated kidnapping under Louisiana law. Because he was a juvenile at the time he committed the crimes, Mejia will be eligible to apply for parole in 25 years.

Judge Frank Brindisi of the 24th Judicial District Court ordered the sentences, including the 30-year sentence for aggravated burglary, to be served without parole, probation or suspension of sentence. He also ordered that the sentenced be run concurrently.

Additionally, Judge Brindisi issued a protective order that bars Mejia from contacting the couple for life.

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

 

Kenner teen convicted of kidnapping elderly Metairie couple

A Jefferson Parish jury on Wednesday afternoon (Oct. 26) found Alexsy Mejia guilty of entering an elderly Metairie couple’s home to rob them and then forcing them to drive to a Kenner bank to withdraw money.

Mejia, of Kenner, who was 16 years old when he committed the crimes, was convicted as charged of two counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of aggravated burglary. He was prosecuted as an adult and faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison with parole eligibility after 25 years.

On the afternoon of July 9, 2021, Mejia, concealing his identity by wearing a mask, entered the couple’s Elmwood Parkway home armed with a .38-caliber revolver. He knew the couple, ages 91 and 81, because he had done yard work for them in the past.

He broke into the couple’s home through a rear bathroom window, encountered the 81-year-old woman in their bedroom and threatened to kill her 91-year-old husband if she called out.  He initially demanded they give him $100,000, an amount he reduced as the couple told him they had no cash in the home.

After being told they had no cash in the home, Mejia forced the couple to drive him to their bank branch in the 3500 block of Williams Boulevard. Sitting in the back seat, he repeatedly held the pistol at the man’s head while his wife drove.

At the bank, he demanded that the woman enter to get the cash while the man wait with him in the car. She told him they could not get the cash unless they both signed for it. Mejia agreed to let the couple enter the bank but alleged he had an accomplice who would blow up their house with them in it if they called police.

While Mejia waited in their car, the couple went inside and alerted the branch manager about what happened. The manager called 911. When Kenner police arrived, Mejia fled on foot. Officers gave chase and found Mejia hiding in a garbage can behind a home in the 3600 block of Martinique Avenue.

In his interview by Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives, Mejia confessed, saying he targeted the couple because of their age and that he wanted money with which to purchase a car. At trial, his lawyers argued that the police arrested the wrong suspect, and that the detectives obtained the statement improperly.

The jury deliberated about 40 minutes before returning with its unanimous verdicts. Judge Frank Brindisi of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Mejia on Nov. 9.

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

Convicted of shooting bar owner in back 4 times, Jonathon Brown sentenced to 70 years as triple-offender

A Jefferson Parish judge on Friday (Oct. 21) sentenced Jonathon Brown to 70 years in prison, finding that he is career criminal under Louisiana’s habitual offender law.

Brown, 31, of New Orleans, was most recently convicted of shooting a Marrero bar and grill owner four times in the back, leaving him paralyzed, following a fight that occurred outside of the business in the 6500 block of Lapalco Boulevard.

A Jefferson Parish jury on Aug. 25 found Brown guilty as charged of attempted second-degree murder, obstruction of justice and of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

That shooting happened on the morning of Sept. 3, 2019, just three months after Brown was released from a state prison for an unrelated conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

A relative of Brown’s initiated the incident by twice groping the bar owner’s wife inside the business. The second groping incident occurred in front of the business owner, as his wife told him what had happened about the first groping incident. That led the owner to order Brown’s relative to leave the business.

The relative defiantly told the owner that he did grope the woman and then spit on the owner. That led to a physical altercation outside the business. After the fight ended, one of the business’s security guards tried to get the owner to return inside.

As the owner walked away, Brown emerged from the parking area and fired four bullets into the owner’s back. The victim collapsed and told his wife he was unable to feel his legs.

The security guard, who was armed, returned fire at Brown. Much of the incident was recorded on the business’s security system. While the image quality was poor, it clearly shows the altercation and Brown lurking in the parking lot leading up the shooting and fleeing immediately after.

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office was able to identify Brown in part because he appeared in photographs of the evening’s crowd that were posted on the business’s Facebook page. Detectives arrested Brown at his New Orleans residence on Oct. 11, 2019.

Brown was legally prohibited from possessing firearms because of a 2013 conviction of possession of cocaine in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. The obstruction charge stems from Brown’s eliminating evidence by discarding the 9mm pistol semiautomatic pistol he used to shoot the victim.

Brown’s attorney argued that he was not the shooter. The jury deliberated about three hours on Aug. 25 before returning with its unanimous verdicts.

The security guard who returned fire at Brown also was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm because of a simple robbery conviction in Jefferson Parish in 2006. He pleaded guilty in January. In exchange for his testimony against Brown as the shooter, he received a suspended 5-year prison sentence with probation and the requirement that he does not possess a firearm as required by statute.

On Sept. 23, Judge R. Christopher Cox III of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Brown to 50 years for the attempted murder, 20 years for the firearm possession charge and 40 years for the obstruction charge – all the maximum amounts.

Following the sentencing, the District Attorney’s Office filed a multiple bill, alleging that Brown was a triple offender. The bill was filed on the attempted murder of the bar owner, meaning Brown faced a sentence of 25 years to 100 years.

Judge Cox on Friday vacated the 50-year sentence for the attempted second-degree murder and resentenced him to 70 years on that count. Brown’s three prior felony convictions included a possession of cocaine and two unrelated charges of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, crimes that occurred in Jefferson and Orleans parishes.

Assistant District Attorneys Laura Schneidau and Brittany Beckner prosecuted the case.

 

Jalen Harvey gets life sentence for killing Joseph Vindel

A Jefferson Parish judge on Thursday (Oct. 6) sentenced Jalen Harvey to a mandatory life sentence in prison for killing Joseph Vindel, a New Orleans man who was fatally shot while trying to sell his dirt bike through an online marketplace app.

Harvey 22, of Harvey, was convicted as charged of first-degree murder for killing Vindel on March 7, 2021. The 29-year-old real estate agent was sitting in the driver’s seat of his sports utility vehicle at the West Bank apartment complex where Harvey resided when he was shot five or six times.

Harvey then dragged the mortally wounded Vindel to the back seat of his SUV and then drove around the area for more than an hour. Harvey left Vindel’s body and his SUV in the 2300 block of Coliseum Street in New Orleans’ Garden District and returned to his West Bank apartment on Vindel’s dirt bike.

Following his weeklong trial, a Jefferson Parish jury on Sept. 1 unanimously convicted Harvey as charged of the first-degree murder, obstruction of justice and monetary instrument abuse.

The obstruction charge involves Harvey’s getting rid of evidence – Vindel’s body, SUV, dirt bike, wallet and cell phone. Harvey was convicted of monetary abuse because his use of fake movie prop cash.

On Thursday, after hearing impact testimony from Vindel’s parents, his girlfriend and his best friend, Judge E. Adrian Adams of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Harvey to life for the murder, 20 years for obstruction of justice and 10 years for monetary instrument abuse. Judge Adams ran the sentences concurrently.

The life sentence is to be serve without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Click here to read more about the trial.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Zach Grate prosecuted the case.

Wendell Lachney pleads guilty to killing 9-year-old girl in drunk driving crash

A Jefferson Parish judge on Tuesday (Sept. 20) sentenced Wendell Lachney to 30 years in prison, after the defendant admitted that he was highly intoxicated when he crashed his car into a minivan at high speed on a West Bank highway, causing the death of a 9-year-old girl and injuring her mother.

Lachney, 58, of Belle Chasse, pleaded guilty as charged to vehicular homicide, first-degree vehicular negligent injury and other offenses in the Oct. 22, 2021, wreck on Belle Chasse Highway near its intersection with Lapalco Boulevard.

At the time that his blood was drawn more than 2 ½ hours after the crash, Lachney’s blood-alcohol content was .22 percent, more than double the .08 percent legal limit to drive under Louisiana law. Lachney was driving upwards of 60 mph when he drove into the rear of the minivan.

Lachney, who already had two prior DWI convictions, had been drinking whiskey and smoking marijuana hours before he drove into the minivan. In his car, Louisiana State Police troopers found an opened bottle of whiskey, wine, a cup of beer, marijuana and a pipe he used to smoke the marijuana.

Before announcing the sentence Tuesday, Judge Stephen Grefer of the 24th Judicial District Court heard impact testimony from five family members, including the child’s parents. Her mother recalled being stopped at a red light when she saw Lachney closing in from behind and then slam into her minivan.

“I watched strangers performing CPR on my 9-year-old on the cold cement road,” she testified. “I fell to my knees as I grabbed a man by his legs and begged him to save my daughter. I screamed to God and to the helpers to kill me instead. Take me, so my daughter can live. I prayed. I begged. I bartered with my soul. Did you hear my screams that night, Wendell?”

Said her father: “I miss our jam sessions in the car and our trips to get coffee. I miss holding you in my arms when you need someone to be strong for you. I am so sad that I will never get to walk you down the aisle or see what an amazing parent you would have been.  Your mom, your brothers and I miss you dearly, and life will never be the same without you here.  We love you to the moon and back.”

Following the crash, Lachney was booked and then released from jail on bond. He then entered an inpatient substance abuse program in St. Tammany Parish. Following the child’s death two days after the crash, Louisiana State Police arrested him there after obtaining an arrest warrant. Lachney’s bond was then set at $1 million.

He also pleaded guilty to reckless operation of a motor vehicle, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of an open alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle and for not wearing a seatbelt.

Judge Grefer sentenced Lachney to 30 years in prison for vehicular homicide and five years suspended for first-degree vehicular negligent injury, to be served on home incarceration after he’s released from prison. The vehicular homicide charge was designated as a crime of violence.

Additionally, Judge Grefer sentenced Lachney to 90 days for reckless operation of a motor vehicle, and 15 days for possession of drug paraphernalia. He ran the sentences concurrent.

Assistant District Attorneys Brittany Beckner and Matthew Whitworth prosecuted the case.

Maurice Ervin sentenced to 55 years for Harahan carjacking conviction

A Jefferson Parish judge on Monday (Sept. 19) sentenced Maurice Ervin to 55 years in prison for his conviction of carjacking a couple in East Jefferson.

Ervin, 16, who was prosecuted as an adult, was convicted as charged last week of two counts of armed robbery with a firearm in connection with the Feb. 12 incident.

Armed with a pistol and wearing a ski mask, Ervin was seen trying to enter apartments in the 1900 block of Hickory Avenue. His activities led residents to call 911.

Meanwhile, a man and woman stopped their vehicle on Hickory Avenue so he could take photographs of roof work in the area. The couple was preparing to replace their roof because of Hurricane Ida damage.

The man stepped out of his vehicle to take photos of a home’s roof, leaving his wife in the passenger seat. That’s when Ervin jumped into the driver’s seat. The woman attempted to grab her cell phone, and Ervin pointed the pistol at her head and put the vehicle in reverse.

The man, meanwhile, was unaware of what was happening until he was getting back into his vehicle. Ervin then pointed the pistol at the man, who grabbed the gun barrel. The woman fled the vehicle. The man fell to the ground and was dragged by the driver’s door, and a tire ran over his left foot.

A nearby Good Samaritan witnessed what was happening and called 911. She then followed the vehicle until the Harahan Police Department and later the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office intervened.

Ervin led the officers on a pursuit onto Jefferson Highway, with Ervin speeding through a construction zone at the Huey P. Long Bridge and then driving against traffic before he wrecked into a utility pole and was arrested.

Following a two-day trial, a Jefferson Parish jury deliberated one hour before returning with its unanimous verdict on Wednesday (Sept. 14).

On Monday, Judge Frank Brindisi of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Ervin to 50 years for each armed robbery count and five years for firearm enhancements, for a total of 55 years on each count. Judge Brindisi ran the sentences concurrently.

Assistant District Attorneys Kristen Landrieu and Stephen Downer prosecuted the case.

Jalen Harvey guilty in Joseph Vindel’s marketplace app murder

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday night (Sept. 1) deliberated 45 minutes in finding Jalen Harvey guilty of killing Joseph Vindel, a New Orleans man who was trying to sell his dirt bike through an online marketplace app last year when he was shot.

Harvey, 22, of Harvey, is guilty as charged of the first-degree murder of Vindel. The 29-year-old real estate agent was shot five or six times while sitting in the driver’s seat of his sports utility vehicle outside a West Bank apartment complex on the morning of March 7, 2021.

Vindel advertised his dirt bike’s sale through the OfferUp marketplace app. Harvey, who used a fake name and phone number on the app, responded to the advertisement with plans to use movie prop cash, or “play money,” to purchase the motorcycle while armed with a semiautomatic pistol.

Vindel towed the dirt bike on a trailer from his Uptown home to the West Bank. Through text messages, Harvey gave Vindel several meeting locations before directing him to the 2100 block of Manhattan Boulevard.

Harvey’s first gunshot struck Vindel on the right side of his face, causing a nonfatal wound. Harvey continued shooting, striking Vindel in the rear of his right shoulder, neck and to the back of his head. Vindel also suffered a gunshot wound to left hand.

His wounds were consistent with his being shot in the face and then turning away defensively as Harvey continued shooting him through the front passenger’s side window, according to expert testimony.

Vindel brought his pistol with him to make the transaction, but a round was never chambered, meaning he was not prepared to fire it. Alleging he was defending himself when he began shooting, Harvey said that Vindel pointed the pistol at him during the transaction and held it in his left hand. That was an impossibility, given the gunshot injury to Vindel’s left hand.

Evidence shows that Vindel’s heart was still pumping blood when Harvey dragged the body between the front seats to the back seat floorboard. Harvey then drove around the city in Vindel’s SUV for more than an hour.

In testimony Friday, Harvey admitted to dousing Vindel’s upper body with gasoline. He asserted he did so to kill DNA.

After leaving the body and SUV in the 2300 block of Coliseum Street in the Garden District, Harvey drove Vindel’s dirt bike back to his West Bank apartment.

A missing person’s investigation began on the night of March 7, 2021, more than 10 hours after Vindel left home to sell the dirt bike. After a search that included the New Orleans Police Department and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, Vindel’s body and SUV were located early the following morning.

Detectives found Harvey through investigating his correspondence with Vindel in the marketplace app. They spotted Vindel’s motorcycle at Harvey’s apartment.

In addition to first-degree murder, Harvey was convicted as charged of obstruction of justice and monetary instrument abuse.

The obstruction charge stems from his eliminating evidence to hinder the investigation, including driving Vindel’s body to the Garden District. Vindel’s wallet and cell phone were never found.

The monetary instrument abuse charge involves his use of the movie prop money in the transaction. Detectives also found more than 175 fake $100 bills in his apartment.

The jury returned with its unanimous verdicts just after 9 p.m. Judge E. Adrian Adams of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Harvey on Oct. 6. Harvey faces a mandatory life sentence in prison.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Zach Grate prosecuted the case.

Steven Tate, 2nd man convicted in Gretna murder, sentenced to life in prison

A Jefferson Parish judge has sentenced Steven Tate to life in prison for his conviction in the shooting death of Ethan Allen, a Marrero man who was killed during a robbery attempt in Gretna.

Tate, 25, of Metairie, was convicted by a unanimous jury on Aug. 10 of second-degree murder. The jury acquitted Tate of conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

Tate and Leonidas Lowry were accused of conspiring to lure Allen to the 800 block of Gulf Drive on Nov. 29, 2016, planning to rob him. When Allen arrived, Tate shot him. Allen in turn shot Tate multiple times.

Allen, 22, of Marrero, died near the shooting scene. The Gretna Police Department found the wounded Tate outside a nearby house.

Lowry, 22, who lived in the 800 block of Gulf Drive, was convicted as charged of second-degree murder on March 23. Because he was a 16-year-old juvenile at the time of the crime, Lowry was sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility after serving 25 years.

On Monday (Aug. 29), after denying defense requests for a new trial and post-verdict acquittal, Judge Scott Schlegel of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Tate to life in prison without probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Joshua Vanderhooft and Brittany Beckner prosecuted Tate.