Category: What’s New

‘Grant me the Serenity, Courage & Wisdom,’ on National Crime Victims Rights Week 2018

Nancy Michel, chief of the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office Victim/Witness Assistance Division. (JPDA photo by Paul Purpura)

It was late last year when Nancy Michel and Assistant District Attorney Kenny Bordelon carried out the unenviable task of meeting with the grieving mother of a young man who was fatally shot in Marrero. There was not enough evidence needed to commence a murder case against the man suspected of killing her son, they told her.

In her 17 years with the Victim/Witness Assistance Division of the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office, Nancy Michel has met with countless crime victims and their survivors, helping them through the most difficult periods of their lives while guiding them as they navigate the criminal justice system.

But this woman’s composure amid receiving the bad news stood out, Nancy Michel recalled.

“She said, ‘There’s nothing I can do but leave you with the words of my son, what he would tell me every time we spoke. He would end our conversation with this:

‘God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.

“I was so moved, I was almost speechless,” Nancy Michel recalled. “She left us with those words of the Serenity Prayer.

“And I said, ‘Please don’t ever lose hope. Don’t ever lose hope. Don’t ever lose faith in our system, because even though we can’t go forward, this case won’t get thrown into a pile and never come back. Never give up hope. Maybe someone will come forward with new evidence.’”

Bordelon recalls the meeting with the woman and family members. “She helped me remember why I do this job,” he said. “Her strength, determination and love for her son was evident. My hope was that we could provide her with the support and guidance to assist her and her family through this tragic time in their lives.”

National Crime Victims’ Rights Week 2018 is April 8-14. It’s an event recognized nationwide to focus attention on everything from resources for crime victims to the victims and survivors themselves.

This year’s theme is “Expand the Circle: Reach All Victims,” emphasizing how the crime victims field can better ensure that every crime victim has access to services and support, and how professionals like Nancy Michel and her team of Victim/Witness Assistance Coordinators can work with other organizations to reach all victims.

Having helped organize National Crime Victims’ Rights Week events in the past in Jefferson Parish and the region, Nancy Michel, who has been chief of the Victim/Witness Division for the past decade, said she was inspired this year by the grieving mother in deciding her theme for this year. Like they did last year, she and District Attorney Paul D. Connick, Jr. have started a wristband campaign.

This year, the words “Serenity Courage Wisdom” are inscribed in the wristbands, giving a nod to the grieving mother.

“It’s not only applied to every victim, it’s applied to everyday life, to everyone’s circumstances,” Nancy Michel said.

“A victim needs eventually to find serenity, some sense of peace,” she said. “Serenity. They need courage to get through the process, to confront the person who harmed them. And that’s where the advocates come in. That’s the role of the advocate, and their families, for the support. That’s what gives them the courage to get through this.

“And wisdom,” she said. “I say wisdom because a lot of victims who’ve gone through something so traumatic or through tremendous violence, in my years of experience here, question their faith, or question why this happened to them. They question the system. They question so many things.”

That’s where the Serenity Prayer applies, she said.

“Grant me the wisdom to understand,” Nancy Michel said. “Help me understand why I became a victim. Grant me the wisdom to understand why my loved one was taken from me. Help me understand why I have to relive again this in court. Help me understand why it was guilty and I feel bad that the person’s going away for a long time.

“The wisdom can mean many different things,” Nancy Michel said. “Some victims ask, ‘Why do I feel sorry for this person who harmed me?’ Others ask, ‘Why don’t I feel sorry?’ Or why can’t I forgive them?’”

“And I say to them, ‘No one can tell you how to feel. You have to take this one day at a time in your journey of healing.’ I don’t think victims of violence ever get closure, especially survivors of homicide victims. Justice is not closure. It is the ending of a chapter in their grieving process.”

Look for the wristbands worn at the Jefferson Parish and Plaquemines Parish district attorneys’ offices, the Jefferson Parish and Plaquemines Parish sheriff’s offices, the Gretna, Westwego, Jean Lafitte, Harahan and Kenner police departments, the Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Aside from the wristband campaign, a second annual mass will be dedicated to crime victims, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday (April 10), at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, 8968 Louisiana Hwy. 23, in Belle Chasse. Refreshments will be served following the mass.

The Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office joins with the Plaquemines Parish District Attorney’s Office and the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office in hosting the mass.

Read about the Louisiana Crime Victims Bill of Rights by clicking here.

The District Attorney’s Office is distributing wristbands free of charge at its main office, 200 Derbigny St., Gretna, during business hours, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Ask the receptionists to speak with a Victim/Witness Assistance Coordinator. For information, call the Jefferson Parish DA’s Victim/Witness Assistance Division at 504.361.2860.

Terrytown teen sentenced to life with parole in Westwego murder

A Terrytown teen was sentenced Wednesday (April 4) to life in prison with the benefit of parole eligibility for killing a 15-year-old boy in Westwego.

Chamid Davis, 19, committed the second-degree murder of Kevin Thomas Jr., on Oct. 19, 2015, a Jefferson Parish jury decided last month.

Davis, who was 16 years old at the time, lured Thomas out of his family’s apartment in the Tanglewood complex in the 1000 block of Sycamore Drive, under the guise of a marijuana transaction, according to evidence presented at trial.

Evidence showed Thomas was shot three times in his back as he ran back up to his apartment, where he died in his mother’s arms. According to prosecutors’ theory of the case, Thomas was targeted over a stolen gun.

With Thomas’ father standing by her side in court Wednesday, Thomas’ mother provided impact testimony, thanking the Westwego Police Department and the District Attorney’s Office. “You destroyed a whole family, not only ours, but yours,” she told Davis.

Because he was under age 18 at the time of the offense, Davis is eligible to seek parole after serving 25 years of his life sentence. After denying defense motions for a new trial and post-verdict judgment of acquittal, Judge Henry Sullivan of the 24th Judicial District Court announced the sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Matt Clauss and Lindsay Truhe prosecuted the case.

Kenner man convicted of killing, dismembering rival in love triangle

Viusqui J. Perez-Espinosa was convicted Monday night (March 26) of murdering his ex-girlfriend’s new lover in Kenner before dismembering the body and dumping the parts in a St. John the Baptist Parish swamp.

Perez, 45, a Cuban national who had worked as a butcher, was convicted as charged of the second-degree murder of Ives Alexis Portales-Lara, 27. A Honduran immigrant who moved to East Jefferson to be near his young daughter, Portales was murdered Nov. 11, 2016, in the Baylor Place apartment he shared with Perez and the woman who was the third leg in their love triangle.

Perez also was convicted of obstruction of justice, for his efforts to conceal his crime. The day after he killed Portales, Perez disarticulated the body, packed the remains in garbage bags, stuffed them in his car’s trunk and drove to St. John the Baptist Parish, where he threw them off the Interstate 10 bridge over the swamps near the Reserve Canal, according to evidence presented during the trial.

“It was the most brutal possible way to die and be disposed of,” Assistant District Attorney Kellie Rish told jurors in opening statements.

“I’ve never seen a case when a victim is cut into pieces and thrown away like trash,” Assistant District Attorney Richard Olivier told jurors in closing argument.

According to evidence presented at trial, Perez and Portales were friends and co-workers at a scaffolding company who romanced the same woman. Perez was sexually involved with the woman for about 18 months before the relationship ended in September 2016. Portales moved in with her in her Baylor Place apartment, and a secret romantic relationship began.

Perez, who worked as a fisherman and boat captain in Cuba and as a butcher in Honduras before he migrated to the United States, pined for her affections and wanted Portales out of the picture, according to trial evidence.

With Portales’ blessing, his ex-girlfriend who also is a native of Cuba, allowed Perez to move in with them on Nov. 8, 2016, three days before the murder. Perez, aware of rumors of Portales’ relationship, offered his rival money to move into his own apartment.

On the morning of Nov. 11, 2016, after Portales left for work, Perez allegedly sexually assaulted his former girlfriend in her bed. Portales was last seen alive that evening.

The Kenner Police Department was notified, marking the start of a missing persons investigation. Officers responding to the complaint visited the Baylor Place apartment and noticed blood on the floor.

Using luminol, Kenner police later found blood on a wall, the ceiling and on furniture. Blood also was found in the trunk of Perez’s car. In the meantime, police booked Perez based on his ex-girlfriend’s assertion that he sexually assaulted her.

Later in November 2016, amid the missing persons investigation, the blood from the apartment was determined to belong to Portales, Dr. Marcela Zozaya, a forensic DNA analyst with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, testified. Dr. Zozaya likened the process to a paternity test, by matching the genetic material she extracted from the blood to that of Portales’ daughter.

On Dec. 29, 2016, a fisherman found a right arm in the Reserve Canal. On Jan. 12, 2017, pipeline workers dredging the canal found the legs and torso, according to the testimony. Portales’ head and left arm have not been found. The St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office joined the investigation.

Through DNA analysis, Dr. Zozaya determined that the body parts belonged to Portales, she testified. Perez was then booked and subsequently charged with Portales’ murder.

Perez’s attorney asserted that Portales attacked Perez thinking that Perez sexually assaulted his girlfriend, an accusation that Perez denied. Testifying on Monday, Perez told jurors that Portales attacked him with a knife, and during the ensuing struggle, Portales cut his own throat and died as a result. The body was too heavy for him to carry to the trunk of his car, he testified. He refused to describe cutting up the body.

After a six-day trial during which more than 1,200 exhibits were presented by the state, the Jefferson Parish jury deliberated 2 ½ hours before delivering its verdicts. Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Perez to a mandatory life sentence in prison on April 26.

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

Terrytown teen convicted in Westwego murder

A Terrytown teen was convicted Friday night (March 23) of luring a 15-year-old boy out of his family’s Westwego apartment and fatally shooting him as he fled for his life.

Chamid Davis, 19, committed the second-degree murder of Kevin Thomas Jr., the Jefferson Parish jury decided.

The motive: Retaliation for Thomas allegedly stealing a gun. “It is really dumb to kill someone over a stolen gun,” Assistant District Attorney Matt Clauss, who prosecuted with Lindsay Truhe, said in closing argument. He called it “foolery.”

Just after midnight on Oct. 19, 2015, Davis, then age 16, contacted Thomas and, under the guise of a marijuana transaction, had him leave his home in the Tanglewood apartment complex in the 1000 block of Sycamore Drive, according to evidence presented at trial.

Evidence shows Thomas was shot in the back three times as he fled up the stairs to his apartment to escape the gunfire. He died in mother’s arms in their living room, according to trial evidence.

Davis denied it, and his attorney argued that Westwego Police Department detectives arrested the wrong person. The jury deliberated just over an hour before finding Davis guilty.

Judge Henry Sullivan of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Davis on April 4. Because he was under age 18 when he killed Thomas, Davis will be eligible for parole consideration after serving 25 years of his life sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Matt Clauss and Lindsay Truhe prosecuted the case.

 

Gretna couple convicted of sexually abusing three juvenile girls

A Gretna couple was convicted Tuesday night (March 20) of molesting three juvenile girls, including a teenager who was given alcohol before she was sexually abused while in a drunken state.

Both Elvin Villafranca, 40, and Argentina Mesa, 54, were convicted of sexual battery counts for the crimes that occurred at their home in 2013 and 2014. Additionally, Villafranca was convicted of the attempted forcible rape of a 13-year-old girl, a responsive verdict, and Mesa was acquitted of being a principal to forcible rape involving the same victim.

“These are three victims, essentially three cases crammed into one case because of a common denominator: Mesa and Villafranca,” Assistant District Attorney Laura Schneidau, who prosecuted with Emily Booth, told jurors in closing argument.

The Gretna Police Department began its investigation in November 2014, after it learned that a 7-year-old girl was molested while being babysat at a Newton Street residence, according to evidence presented during the trial.

That victim’s mother initiated the investigation after seeing a matter of sexual nature on the child’s electronic tablet. Investigators learned that Villafranca inappropriately touched the victim, leading to his conviction of sexual battery of a juvenile under age 13.

The mother of that victim later encountered a juvenile relative, who also had contact with Mesa and Villafranca, leading to the child’s disclosure that in November 2013, when she was 13 years old, she had been sexually abused at the couple’s Newton Street residence.

That second victim asserted that, during a sleepover, she was given alcohol and was not allowed to leave. For that victim, Villafranca was convicted of attempted forcible rape, and Mesa was convicted of sexual battery.

Another victim disclosed that she, too, was abused at the couple’s Newton Street residence when she was 9 years old. For this, Villafranca and Mesa were convicted as charged of sexual battery of a juvenile under age 13 for this offense.

After a six-day trial, the jury deliberated almost six hours Tuesday before returning its verdicts. Judge Stephen Grefer of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Mesa and Villafranca on April 16.

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

Ronald Gasser sentenced to 30 years in Joe McKnight’s death

Ronald Gasser, the West Jefferson man who killed former John Curtis Christian School and pro-football player Joe McKnight at a Terrytown intersection, was sentenced Thursday (March 15) to 30 years in prison.

A Jefferson Parish jury on Jan. 26 found Gasser, 56, guilty of manslaughter for killing McKnight, 28. Jurors rejected Gasser’s justifiable homicide defense and found he had specific intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm when he fired three .40-caliber bullets at the former pro running back during a fit of road rage on Dec. 1, 2016.

Following the conviction, Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court ordered a pre-sentence investigation to guide her in her decision. On Thursday, after rejecting a defense motion for a new trial and hearing and reading the impact testimony, Judge Kovach said the tragedy could have been easily avoided had both men disengaged.

Assistant District Attorneys Shannon Swaim and Seth Shute prosecuted the case.

Marrero man pleads guilty to social media hook-up armed robbery

With jury selection underway, a Marrero man cut short his trial Tuesday (March 6) and pleaded guilty as charged to robbing a man he met through a social media dating application.

Randell Mason, 27, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for robbing a 21-year-old New Orleans man of his car just before 2 a.m., on March 17, 2016. He also pleaded guilty to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, for which he received a 15-year sentence.

Using the name “Aaron,” Mason met the victim days prior to the crime through the Badoo dating app, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. They exchanged cell phone numbers and communicated through text messages, eventually agreeing to meet in the 5000 block of Mount Rushmore Drive, according to the Sheriff’s Office incident report.

There, Mason got into the victim’s 2013 Chrysler 200C. They traveled to the 5000 block of Grenoble Court, in Marrero, where the victim believed Mason’s aunt lived. As they walked through an alley, Mason brandished a semiautomatic pistol and ordered the victim to give up the car keys. The victim complied, and Mason drove away.

Within hours, detectives identified Mason as the suspect through his photograph on the Badoo app. The U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force located and arrested Mason on April 9, 2016, in an apartment in the 5000 block of Mount Rushmore Drive.

When confronted with the Badoo account, Mason asserted someone created the fraudulent site by stealing his photograph from social media. He eventually said he planned to meet the victim for a sexual encounter but found the victim to be unattractive and began yelling at him.

The victim, Mason asserted, felt intimidated and simply gave him the keys to his car. He said drove home in the victim’s car and then he gave it to “a crack head” on Mount Rushmore. He also said the cell phone with which he communicated with the victim belonged to the same “crack head.” He also denied having a firearm during the encounter.

Jury selection began Tuesday morning. With prospective jurors selected and the victim waiting to testify against him, Mason offered to plead guilty to the two charges. He also pleaded guilty to being a double offender because of a prior carjacking conviction.

Judge Conn Regan of the 24th Judicial District Court accepted the plea and ran Mason’s sentences concurrently, for a total of 15 years..

Assistant District Attorneys Lynn Schiffman and Zachary Popovich prosecuted the case.

Marrero man convicted of beating woman, 84, during New Year’s Eve burglary

A Marrero man was convicted as charged Tuesday night (Feb. 27) of forcing his way into an 84-year-old woman’s home in search of money on New Year’s Eve 2016 and beating her until she lost consciousness.

Brandon Pike, 39, was found guilty of aggravated burglary and second-degree battery in connection with the crimes in the 6600 block of 16th Street in Marrero. Pike, a 5’10”, 250-pound man, walked past the woman’s Christmas decorations that adorned her front yard and kicked open the front door about 1:30 p.m., according to testimony presented during the daylong trial.

Once inside, he ordered the woman to give him her money. When she said she had no money, he repeatedly punched her in her head, knocking her unconscious, before rummaging through her bedroom. He left the home with the woman’s television, according to testimony.

“He beat her, all for a little television. That’s what he got out of it,” Assistant District Attorney Andrew DeCoste, who prosecuted with Lynn Schiffman, told jurors in opening statements.

At some point later, the woman regained consciousness and called a family member, who in turn notified a neighbor and asked him to check on her. The neighbor found her on the living room floor, near the Christmas tree that still had gifts under it, according to testimony.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies found her with her left eye swollen shut, swelling on the left side of her face and dried blood in and around her left ear, Detective Carl Koppeis testified.

The victim recognized Pike by his first name, because she had seen him working at a local commodity store, according to testimony. With the assistance of the victim’s family, Detective Koppeis was able to fully identify Pike, leading to his arrest outside a Marrero bingo hall.

Pike denied committing the crime. His public defender argued there was no physical evidence connecting her client to the crime and that the case was based on the identification of an elderly woman who was roused from her bed without her eye glasses when she was attacked.

The Jefferson Parish jury deliberated about 1 ½ hours before returning with its verdict. Judge Donnie Rowan of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Pike on March 16.

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

Terrytown many sentenced to life for Marrero murder that left child injured

A Terrytown man was sentenced Tuesday (Feb. 20) to a mandatory life sentence in prison for his involvement in a Marrero shooting that left a man dead and an 8-year-old girl injured.

Kendell Ellis, 29, was convicted by a Jefferson Parish jury on Feb. 2 of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

Anderson “CJ” Massey, 29, was killed outside his apartment in the 1100 block of Dimarco Drive on Oct. 23, 2014, as he attempted to avoid being the victim of an armed robbery, according to testimony presented during the trial.

The child, meanwhile, was playing outside her cousin’s apartment when she was struck in the back by a bullet meant for Massey. The child survived, and surgeons left the bullet in her body, according to trial testimony.

In impact testimony Tuesday, Massey’s father told the court that closure is defined as resolution of conclusion, “but not when it comes to my family losing CJ to murder.” He further testified that “as much as I want to hate you for taking my son,” he could not hate Ellis.

“Hating you would not bring CJ back,” he testified. “It would only add stress to my life.”

After denying a defense motion for a new trial, 24th Judicial District Judge Henry Sullivan sentenced Ellis to life for the murder, 50 years for the attempted murder of the child and 49 1/2 years for the conspiracy to commit armed robbery. He ran the sentences concurrently.

Assistant District Attorneys Zachary Popovich and Lynn Schiffman prosecuted the case.

Avondale man sentenced to life in prison for Kenner couple murders

An Avondale man who was convicted last month of murdering a couple in their Kenner home was sentenced Thursday (Feb. 8) to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Shaun Barnett, 30, received the mandatory sentence for his conviction of two counts of first-degree murder. Barnett killed Dawn Scott, 28, and Raynell Kimbrough, 31, as they lay in their bed of their Idaho Street apartment early on the morning of April 4, 2016.

Barnett, who was friends with the couple, shot Scott in the head, as an infant lay beside her. He then shot Kimbrough in the head and then in his body, according to evidence presented during the trial. On the way out of the second-floor bedroom, he shot Scott once more, in the torso.

A child who was asleep in the home heard the gunshots, saw Barnett run down the stairs and later found the murdered couple. The child escorted his younger brother out of the back door and alerted a neighbor, who investigated and called 911.

Members of the Scott and Kimbrough families wrote letters to the court in lieu of providing live impact testimony, including Kimbrough’s 7-year-old daughter, who said her father’s death has left her “mad and sad.”

“You hurt my heart before anybody else had a chance to,” the child wrote in the letter, which a prosecutor read aloud during the sentencing hearing.

Kenner Police Department officers connected Barnett to the crimes using cell phone data, the license plate recognition system, DNA and other evidence.

A Jefferson Parish jury on Jan. 26 convicted Barnett as charged of two counts of first-degree murder and of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Barnett was barred from possessing guns because of numerous convictions of property and narcotics crimes.

After denying defense attorneys’ motion for a new trial Thursday and hearing Barnett proclaim his innocence, Judge Lee Faulkner of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced the man to two life sentences – one for each victim – and to 10 years for the firearms offense. He ran the sentences concurrently.

Assistant District Attorneys Douglas Rushton and Lynn Schiffman prosecuted the case.