Category: What’s New

Harvey man convicted of teen’s Woodmere murder

A Jefferson Parish jury decided Friday night (June 8) that Ivory Franklin II killed a teen as they walked along a Harvey drainage canal two years ago, firing a bullet into the back of the victim’s head before unleashing more bullets on the 15-year-old witness who ran through the murky water as he fled for his life.

Franklin, 20, of Harvey, was convicted as charged of the second-degree murder of Reginald Black, 18, who died in the early morning hours of May 5, 2016. Franklin, who was 18 years old at the time of the crime, also was convicted of the attempted second-degree murder of the 15-year-old, who was Black’s nephew and was able to escape without physical injury.

Just before 3 a.m., on the day of the homicide, the three teens were walking on the concrete embankment of the canal behind homes on Windmere Court, just south of Post Street in Harvey’s Woodmere subdivision. Black walked ahead of Franklin and didn’t see his death coming, according to evidence presented during the trial. Armed with a revolver, Franklin fired a bullet into the back of Black’s head.

“He didn’t deserve to die at age 18,” Assistant District Attorney Andrew DeCoste, who prosecuted Franklin with Lynn Schiffman, told jurors. “He didn’t deserve to be killed by this man (Franklin), who he thought was his friend. He didn’t deserve to die on a canal bank.”

After seeing the uncle whom he considered a brother shot dead, the 15-year-old boy ran, plunging into the canal to make his escape and running to the first home he saw that had lights on. He banged on the front door, pleading with the resident inside for help.

The resident refused to open the door but called 911, according to trial testimony. The boy then ran to the first Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy to arrive and, crying, rushed the officer to Black’s body, according to testimony. The revolver Franklin used has not been recovered.

They found Black lying face-down on the sloped concrete surface, his blood flowing from his head down the embankment to the canal water. Deputies later discovered a strike mark in the concrete embankment, left from one of the bullets that Franklin fired at the 15-year-old as he ran away, according to trial evidence.

In testimony Friday, Franklin denied killing Black and pointed blame to the 15-year-old, whom he said was “hyper” after smoking marijuana and involved in horseplay with a pistol. Franklin said the boy pointed the pistol at his head, and when he swatted it away, it fired, leading to Black’s death.

The Jefferson Parish jury deliberated approximately two hours Friday before delivering its verdict.

Judge Donnie Rowan of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Franklin to a mandatory life sentence in prison on Aug. 3.

Assistant District Attorneys Andrew DeCoste and Lynn Schiffman prosecuted the case.

Avondale man sentenced to life in prison for Harvey murder

An Avondale man was sentenced Monday (May 14) to life in prison for his convictions stemming a Harvey shooting that left one man dead and another injured.

Javontae “Tae” Simmons, 24, was convicted as charged on May 4 of second-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder.

All charges stem from an April 7, 2015, shooting in 3700 block of Clover Lane, in Harvey’s Woodmere subdivision. Stacy Johnson Jr., 20, was shot several times and died at the scene. A second man was shot in the buttocks as he ran away. A third man, who was the intended target of the shooting, escaped uninjured.

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

After denying defense motions for a post-verdict judgment of acquittal and a motion for new trial, in addition to the mandatory life sentence for the murder conviction, Judge Henry Sullivan of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Simmons to 30 years for the conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and 50 years for each of the two convictions of attempted second-degree murder. Judge Sullivan ran the sentences concurrently.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Doug Freese prosecuted the case.

Man sentenced to life in prison for raping, impregnating 12-year-old girl

Days after he was convicted by a jury, Jose Ivan Moreno Cervantes was sentenced Monday (May 7) to a mandatory life sentence in prison for raping and impregnating a 12-year-old girl in West Jefferson.

Cervantes, 36, was convicted as charged last week of the first-degree rape of a child whose pregnancy went undiagnosed into its eighth month, when a school official raised question.

The child then told authorities that Cervantes raped her three times, according to evidence presented during the trial.

Noting the victim’s bravery for testify against Cervantes, Judge John Molaison of the 24th Judicial District Court said during the sentencing hearing that adults are charged with caring and supporting children.

“It’s our obligation to protect them, and you did just the opposite,” Judge Molaison told Cervantes. “You preyed upon a child for your own sexual gratification.”

The victim gave birth in September 2015. DNA testing confirmed that Cervantes is the father. After he was booked, his family had the child sign an affidavit swearing that she impregnated herself with one of Cervantes’ used condoms. The victim willingly signed it only so that her son would have a father in his life.

Cervantes must serve life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Africk and Blair Constant prosecuted the case.

Avondale man convicted of Harvey murder, attempted murders

An Avondale man was convicted Thursday night (May 3), in connection with a shooting that left one man dead and a second man injured.

Javontae “Tae” Simmons, 24, was convicted as charged of second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder.

The shooting occurred about 12:45 a.m., on April 7, 2015, in the 3700 block of Clover Lane, in Harvey’s Woodmere subdivision.

Stacy Johnson Jr., 20, was shot several times and died at the scene. Another man was struck in the buttocks by a bullet. A third man, the intended target in the crime, was not injured, according to evidence presented in the three-day trial.

The jury deliberated just over 1 ½ hours before returning with its verdicts at 8:40 p.m. Judge Henry Sullivan of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Simmons on May 14.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Doug Freese prosecuted the case.

New Orleans man sentenced in Bridge City bicyclist’s hit-and-run death

A New Orleans man was sentenced to serve six years in prison to be followed by two years of probation for his conviction last month of the hit-and-run death of a Bridge City bicyclist.

Taurus C. Hale, 21, was convicted of killing Bruce McJilton, 65. McJilton was riding his bicycle north on Nine Mile Point Road just north of the Westbank Expressway on Feb. 15 2017, when about 10:30 p.m., Hale struck him head-on while driving his 2003 Honda Odyssey.

Hale continued driving without stopping or notifying authorities. About 7 a.m. the following day, a passing motorist spotted McJilton’s body on the grassy shoulder, near his bicycle and debris from Hales’ minivan that was scattered in the northbound lane.

“I cannot imaging smashing into and crushing an animal let alone a person and leaving them to lie on side of the road,” McJilton’s brother Eric McJilton, said in impact testimony. “The cold heartedness one must have is inexplicable.

“I am shocked and appalled that a person could be so callus as to run a person over and not stop,” Eric McJilton testified. Hale “destroyed, obliterated my brother’s existence without as much as a phone call.”

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office was able to identify Hale’s vehicle as being involved later that day and went to his mother’s home. Hale then told investigators that he believed he was involved in a wreck with another vehicle and, holding liability insurance only, he declined to call police to report the incident.

A six-member Jefferson Parish jury on April 19 found Hale guilty as charged of hit and run driving causing death or serious bodily injury. The maximum punishment for the offense is 10 years in prison.

After hearing impact testimony from three of McJilton’s siblings, Judge E. Adrian Adams of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Hale to eight years in prison. Judge Adams suspended two years and ordered the 6-year balance to be served in state prison, followed by two years of supervised release.

Assistant District Attorneys Matt Clauss and Brittany Beckner prosecuted the case.

Man convicted of raping, impregnating 12-year-old girl

A Jefferson Parish jury on Tuesday (May 1) found a man guilty of raping and impregnating a 12-year-old girl in West Jefferson, rejecting the defendant’s assertion that the victim used his discarded condom to cause the pregnancy.

Jose Ivan Moreno Cervantes, 36, who at the time of his arrest resided in Denham Springs, was convicted as charged of first-degree rape of a juvenile under age 13, a crime that carries a mandatory life sentence in prison.

Cervantes raped the girl three times, twice in Westwego and once in his car in Marrero, according to evidence presented during the two-day trial. School officials suspected in late August 2015 that the child was pregnant, a suspicion the mother initially rejected.

However, that same day, a pediatrician confirmed that the victim was 8 ½ months pregnant. She then told authorities that she had been raped by Cervantes, who by this point had vanished from Jefferson Parish. The victim was 12 years old when she gave birth in September 2015.

Police obtained a warrant for Cervantes’ arrest, and a U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force apprehended him in July 2016, when the newborn was nine months old, according to evidence presented during the trial.

DNA testing established that Cervantes is the father. Prior to trial, the victim and her mother signed an affidavit at the behest of Cervantes’ family, asserting that the child obtained one of his used condoms and impregnated herself. She later refuted the assertions spelled out in the affidavit, saying she signed it in hopes her child would have a father.

The jury deliberated less than a half-hour in convicting Cervantes. Judge John Molaison of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Cervantes on Monday (May 7).

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Africk and Blair Constant prosecuted the case.

 

 

Kenner man sentenced to life plus 40 years in murder and dismemberment case

 

Convicted of killing his rival in a Kenner love triangle before dismembering the slain man’s body and discarding the parts in a River Parishes swamp, Viusqui J. Perez-Espinosa was sentenced Thursday (April 26) to spend the rest of his life in prison plus 40 years.

Perez, 45, a Cuban national whose work history included that of a butcher, was convicted as charged last month of the second-degree murder of Alexis Portales-Lara on Nov. 11, 2016. Portales was murdered in the Baylor Place apartment he shared with his lover, a woman who also is a Cuban national and who previously was romantically involved with Perez.

According to trial testimony, Perez hoped to rekindle the relationship, and Portales was in the way.

On the day after he killed Portales, Perez disarticulated the body, stuffed the remains in garbage bags and drove to St. John the Baptist Parish, where he dumped the bags into the swamp near the Reserve Canal off Interstate 10.

For his efforts to conceal his crime, Perez also was convicted as charged of obstruction of justice and was sentenced Thursday to the maximum 40 years in prison.

Portales, a Honduran national, moved to East Jefferson to be close to his young daughter, according to trial evidence.

Portales’ ex-wife provided a statement to the court in lieu of live impact testimony on Thursday, expressing the emotional and financial hardships she and their 5-year-old daughter suffer because of his death.

“With tears in her eyes, she tells me, ‘Mommy, I miss my daddy,’” the mother wrote.

Portales and Perez worked together for a scaffold company in Norco. Portales moved in with Perez’s ex-girlfriend in Kenner. She later allowed Perez to temporarily move in with them after his relationship with another woman ended, according to evidence presented to the jury.

Portales was last seen alive on the evening of Nov. 11, 2016. The Kenner Police Department initially investigated the matter as a missing person’s complaint and found blood in the Baylor Place apartment. That blood was later determined to be Portales’, according to evidence presented during the trial.

Then, on Dec. 29, 2016, a fisherman found a right arm in the Reserve Canal. The following month, pipeline workers who were dredging the canal found the legs and torso. The remains were determined to be Portales, whose head and left arm have not been located.

At trial, the jury heard testimony about Perez sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend in the apartment after Portales went to work. Perez, who denies assaulting the woman, asserted he was defending himself from Portales’ attack. During the scuffle, Perez asserted in trial testimony, Portales stabbed himself in the neck and caused his own death.

Perez testified that the body was too heavy for him to move, so he cut it into pieces. His attorney told jurors that he panicked.

At the end of a six-day trial, a Jefferson Parish jury on March 26 convicted Perez as charged of second-degree murder and obstruction of justice.

After denying defense motions for a new trial and post-verdict judgment of acquittal on Thursday, Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court handed down the sentences, which she ran consecutively.

Judge Kovach noted, “I can think of no worse obstruction of justice than that which occurred in this case.”

Assistant District Attorneys Kellie Rish and Richard Olivier prosecuted the case.

 

 

With an apology, Harvey defendant pleads guilty to killing Shamarie Joseph

As jury selection was about to begin in his trial, an apologetic Romalis Levier pleaded guilty Tuesday (April 24) to inadvertently causing the death of a 15-year-old girl while he was shooting at a rival on a Harvey street.

Levier, 20, of Harvey, accepted the maximum 40-year prison sentence in pleading guilty to manslaughter for the Dec. 22, 2015, death of Shamarie Joseph. She was inside an apartment in the 1600 block of Apache Drive, holding a toddler, when a bullet Levier fired at a teenager on the street punched through a wall and struck her in the chest.

Shamarie’s mother gave tearful impact testimony, telling the court that her daughter was an athletic teen who aspired to be a gynecologist or pediatrician. She stood at the witness seat in the courtroom Tuesday and faced Levier as he sat nearby at the defense table. Levier stood and faced her.

“I forgive you,” she told Levier through her weeping. “I don’t hold no grudges in my heart. I forgive you, but I will never forget, because she is never coming back.”

Shamarie’s aunt also provided impact testimony, telling the court about her pain and reiterating that their family carries no grudges. “We just want to know why. Why? Why there?” she said of the shooting.

Levier later read a prepared statement, in which he offered his apologies to Shamarie’s mother. “I hope you forgive me,” he told Shamarie’s mother.

Seated in the audience by this point during the plea hearing, she responded, “I forgive you.”

Levier was involved in an ongoing dispute with another group of individuals when he opened fire on Emmett Garrison IV in retaliation for a Dec. 9, 2015, shooting in Marrero. Garrison, who since has been convicted of a slew of crimes, was struck by one of the bullets.

For that, Levier pleaded guilty as charged Tuesday to attempted second-degree murder and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Levier also pleaded guilty as charged to obstruction of justice, for which he received a 40-year sentence; conspiracy to obstruct justice, for which he received a 30-year sentence; and possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of Tramadol, for which he was sentenced to 30 years and five years, respectively.

In accepting the plea, Judge Danyelle Taylor of the 24th Judicial District Court ran the sentences concurrently, for a total of 40 years.

Assistant District Attorneys Doug Freese and Blair Constant prosecuted the case.

 

Man convicted of killing Bridge City bicyclist in hit-and-run case

A New Orleans man was convicted Wednesday night (April 18) of hitting and killing a 65-year-old bicyclist on a Bridge City road.

Taurus C. Hale, 21, who at the time of the incident lived in Marrero, was found guilty as charged of hit-and-run driving causing death or serious bodily injury, in which he killed Bruce McJilton about 10:30 p.m., on Feb. 15, 2017.

Hale was driving his 2003 Honda Odyssey south on Nine Mile Point Road, just north of the Westbank Expressway, when he struck McJilton head-on as he rode his bicycle. The impact caused damage on the front driver’s side of the minivan and its windshield, scattering vehicle debris in the northbound lane.

McJilton, of Bridge City, was thrown onto the side of the road. At about 7 a.m., the following day, a passing motorist spotted McJilton’s body on the grassy shoulder, near his bicycle.

That same day, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office investigators identified Hale’s vehicle as being involved and went to his mother’s home. Hale’s attorney called the Sheriff’s Office, offering to surrender him. The attorney also directed deputies to Hale’s minivan, which was parked in New Orleans.

In a statement to deputies, Hale asserted he thought he was involved in an accident with another vehicle that fled, and he did not report the incident because he had only liability insurance. He said he later saw a report on a news website about a pedestrian being killed on Nine Mile Point Road and suspected that he might have been involved.

The six-member Jefferson Parish jury deliberated for just over an hour before returning its verdict about 8 p.m. Judge E. Adrian Adams of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Hale on May 2.

Assistant District Attorneys Matt Clauss and Brittany Beckner prosecuted the case.

Gretna couple sentenced to decades in prison for molesting three girls

A Gretna couple convicted last month of sexually abusing three juvenile girls has been sentenced to prison.

Elvin Villafranca, 40, and Argentina Mesa, 54, were sentenced Monday (April 16) to 60 years and 35 years, respectively, for their March 20 convictions of abusing the girls in their Newton Street home in 2013 and 2014.

The Gretna Police Department investigation began in November 2014, after detectives learned that a 7-year-old girl was molested while being babysat at the couple’s home. For this victim, Villafranca was convicted of sexual battery of a juvenile under age 13 and received a 25-year prison sentence.

The victim’s mother later asked a relative whether she had contact with Mesa and Villafranca. That victim disclosed she was sexually abused by the couple at age 13, after the couple gave her alcohol to drink during a sleepover, according to evidence presented at trial.

In connection with this second victim, Villafranca was convicted of attempted forcible rape and was sentenced to 10 years, and Mesa was convicted of sexual battery and was sentenced to 10 years.

A third victim came forward saying she, too, was sexually abused at the Newton Street residence when she was 9 years old. For this, Villafranca and Mesa were convicted of sexual battery of a juvenile under age 13 and received a 25-year sentences.

After hearing impact testimony from the mothers of two of the victims and denying post-verdict motions, Judge Stephen Grefer of the 24th Judicial District Court handed down the sentences. He ran them consecutively, citing the fact that the crimes involved three separate victims and that anything less would deprecate the seriousness of the crimes.

Assistant District Attorneys Laura Schneidau and Emily Booth prosecuted the case.