A Jefferson Parish judge on Tuesday (Feb. 10) sentenced a pair of West Bank half-bothers to hundreds of years in prison for their convictions for committing a string of armed robberies, and a shooting that left a Terrytown man dead.

Destin Smith, 26, of Algiers, and Damon Bryant, 28, of Avondale, were convicted by a jury on Jan. 31 of numerous charges in connection with the 2017 crime spree.

Judge Donnie Rowan of the 24^th Judicial District Court sentenced Smith to 227 years in prison and Bryant to 515 years in prison.

“I have to tell you that what you two did in this parish and in other parishes, I mean, we might as well go back in time and call you Bonnie and Clyde, we might as well call you Dillinger, we might as well call you a whole bunch of names, because you have no regard for human life. You terrorized them. That’s what you did. You terrorized these people, you with a shotgun, you with a handgun.”

Smith was convicted of manslaughter in the death of James Thomas Jr., 36. A De Le Salle High School graduate and father of a young son who drove a delivery truck for UPS, Thomas was shot outside his Terrytown apartment when Smith tried to carjack him.

“He lived with integrity and purpose,” Thomas’ mother said Tuesday in victim-impact testimony during the sentencing hearing. “And he was taken from me. … We had just exchanged messages while I was on a cruise. His last words to me were, ‘When are you coming home?’ I didn’t know that would be our final conversation.”

Smith additionally was convicted of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, attempted armed robbery and obstruction of justice. The jury acquitted Smith of five counts of armed robbery.

Smith’s later crimes in part were carried out to raise money to post bail for his half-brother and co-defendant during the 5-day-long the trial, Damon Bryant.

Bryant, 28, of Avondale, was convicted of carjacking and five counts of armed robbery.

A look at the crime spree shows:

• At about 1:10 a.m., on July 11, 2017, a 24-year-old woman was seated in her boyfriend’s 2011 Mercury Sable in the 900 block of East Monterey Court in Terrytown. As she scrolled through Facebook on her mobile device, two men physically removed her from the car and drove away in it. Several hours later, her boyfriend found his car at an apartment complex in the 2300 block of Park Place Drive – where a relative of Bryant and Smith lived and where Thomas was later shot and killed. Bryant’s DNA was recovered from the steering wheel, leading to his arrest three weeks later. He was convicted of carjacking as a result. Judge Rowan on Tuesday sentenced Bryant to 20 years in prison to be served at hard labor.
• Late on the morning of July 20, 2017, an employee of a breakfast restaurant in the 500 block of Behrman Highway in Terrytown was cleaning behind the business when he noticed two suspicious men approaching. As the employee attempted to use his cell phone to call the manager inside, the suspects forced him at gunpoint to knock on the rear door. When the manager opened it, the suspects forced their way inside, robbed a 32-year-old woman and a 29-year-old woman and got away with more than $2,600. At trial, jurors acquitted Smith of two counts of armed robbery. They convicted Bryant of two counts of armed robbery. Bryant was sentenced Tuesday to 99 years in prison for each count, for a total of 198 years in prison to be served at hard labor.
• On the night of July 27, 2017, a 27-year-old woman was getting out of her 2013 Nissan Versa at her home in the 2900 block of North Monterey Court in Terrytown when two suspects approached her intent on robbing her. She dropped her purse and car keys, and the suspects fled with them in her car. Jurors acquitted Smith of armed robbery and convicted Bryant of the charge. Bryant was sentenced to 99 years in prison for robbing this woman, to be served at hard labor.
• Bryant immediately drove the stolen Versa across the Huey P. Long Bridge to a restaurant where he once worked in the 2900 block of South Clearview Parkway in Elmwood. The stolen car was picked up by the license place recognition system, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. They hopped a fence in the rear of the restaurant and at gunpoint forced two employees – a 42-year-old man and a 43-year-old man – into the office. They fled with more than $2,200 in cash. Bryant cut his right hand when hopping the fence and left blood droplets inside the business, including on the jacket worn by one of the victims – and into the stolen car when fleeing. Smith was charged with being Bryant’s accomplice, but jurors acquitted him. was convicted of two counts of armed robbery. On Tuesday, Bryant was sentenced to 99 years for each count, for a total of 198 years, to be served at hard labor.

A week after robbing the Elmwood restaurant, Bryant was arrested after he shot a man in Boutte, in St. Charles Parish, when attempting to rob him. Bryant spotted that man withdrawing a large amount of cash at a Jefferson Parish bank and then followed him to St. Charles Parish to attempt to rob him. He subsequently was linked to the Jefferson Parish crimes in part based on his DNA being recovered in the stolen Mercury Sable, the stolen Versa and inside the Elmwood restaurant.

After Bryant’s arrest, Smith continued the crime spree in Jefferson and Orleans parishes, in part to raise cash for Bryant’s bail and criminal defense. Smith carried out some of these crimes with his sister’s then-boyfriend, Devante J. Mays, 27, of New Orleans. Mays, who was charged separately, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit armed robbery and two counts of attempted armed robbery in August 2019 in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence.

A look at Smith’s ongoing crime spree shows:

• On the morning of Aug. 12, 2017, James Thomas Jr. walked to his BMW parked near his apartment in the 2300 block of Park Place Drive. Standing next to his car, he encountered Smith, who was armed with a .20-gauge shotgun. During the carjacking attempt, Smith shot Thomas once in the left thigh. Smith fled to a relative’s apartment in the complex. Thomas died a short while later at a New Orleans hospital. “James was a big, gentle Teddy bear. He would give you the shirt off his back,” Thomas’ fiancée said in victim-impact testimony on Wednesday. Smith was charged with second-degree murder, but jurors convicted him of the lesser homicide charge of manslaughter. Smith was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years in prison.
• Hours later, on the night of Aug. 12, 2017, two employees were at a discount store in the 7400 block of the Westbank Expressway – a 39-year-old woman and a 21-year-old woman – when two gunmen approached the front door. The business had been closed for the day, so the doors were locked. The gunmen were unable to get inside. Smith was convicted of two counts of attempted armed robbery and was sentenced Tuesday to 49 years in prison for each count, for a total of 98 years in prison. Mays separately pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted armed robbery.
• On Aug. 12 and Aug. 13, 2017, a man in New Orleans East, a discount store in the Lower 9^th Ward, a woman and her cab driver in Algiers and two employees and a customer at a breakfast restaurant in Algiers were robbed. Jurors in the Jefferson Parish trial heard testimony about the crimes that were committed in Orleans Parish, which formed the basis for the conspiracy to commit armed robbery charge in the Jefferson Parish case. In the New Orleans East robbery, the victim reported having his 2008 Mazda CX9 stolen. That vehicle was later recovered near Smith’s residence on Bacchus Street in Algiers. In it, police recovered a spent .20-gauge shotgun shell that was ballistically matched to the shotgun used to kill James Thomas Jr., in Terrytown. These crimes are the basis for Smith’s being convicted of conspiracy to commit armed robbery. He was sentenced Tuesday to 49 years in prison. Mays previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit armed robbery. In the Orleans Parish cases, Smith and Mays also pleaded guilty in 2019 to committing nine counts of armed robbery and one count of aggravated battery in Criminal District Court. Smith received a 12-year sentence and Mays was sentenced to 15 years by a New Orleans judge.
• Smith also was convicted of obstruction of justice for getting rid of the .20-gauge shotgun he used to kill Thomas. For this, he was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years in prison.

New Orleans Police Department detectives who were investigating the spate of armed robberies arrested Smith and Mays in the Bacchus Street residence in Algiers on Aug. 14, 2017. Victims’ property from several of the robberies was recovered there, linking them to the crimes.

Assistant District Attorneys Taylor Somerville and Tommy Block prosecuted the case.