Tag: attempted murder

Tyrone Constant sentenced to 50 years in Harvey pizza business attack

A Jefferson Parish judge has sentenced Tyrone Constant to 50 years in prison for his conviction of brutally attacking a 20-year-old employee of a West Bank pizza business with a machete-type knife.

A Jefferson Parish jury on Feb. 5 found Constant, 40, of Harvey, guilty as charged of attempted second-degree murder for the May 23, 2020 attack inside the business in the 1600 block of Gretna Boulevard in Harvey.

Click here to read about the trial.

The victim knew Constant by his first name from his visits to the business. She did nothing to provoke the attack.

In victim-impact testimony on Feb. 21, the victim’s mother said that “the aftermath of this entire ordeal is far worse,” citing the 16 surgeries, more than 200 doctors’ appointments and 300 physical and occupational surgeries she has endured – in addition to the emotional trauma.

Constant “left her broken, insecure, literally scarred and scared to live a life outside of her home,” the mother said. “And for the record, she doesn’t feel completely safe there, either. (Constant) not only shattered bones, (he) also shattered her peace and dreams. She no longer looks forward to her future. To say the least, it has dimmed her light. She no longer shines as bright as she did before the attack.”

After denying defense requests for post-verdict motions for a new trial and acquittal, Judge Jacqueline Maloney of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Constant to the maximum 50 years for attempted second-degree murder.

She additionally sentenced Constant to two 6-month sentences in finding him in contempt of court for two courtroom outbursts – one during the trial and one during Friday’s sentencing hearing. Judge Maloney ran the sentences consecutively, for a total of 51 years.

Assistant District Attorneys Kristen Landrieu and Ashton Robinson prosecuted the case.

Tyrone Constant guilty of attempted murder of Harvey pizza business employee

A Jefferson Parish jury deliberated 25 minutes on Wednesday (Feb. 5) in finding Tyrone Constant guilty of trying to kill a 20-year-old employee of a West Bank pizza business by brutally attacking her with a machete-type knife.

Constant, 40, of Harvey, was convicted as charged of attempted second-degree murder in connection with the May 23, 2020 attack inside a business in the 1600 block of Gretna Boulevard.

The victim and her 52-year-old co-worker were the only employees working on that Saturday night during Memorial Day weekend. Constant had been in the business numerous times before. Both employees working that night were familiar with Constant by his first name, Tyrone.

Wearing a mask because of the COVID-19 pandemic and his head partially covered by a hoodie and cap, Constant walked in from the rain about 9 p.m. and asked the victim about whether the business was hiring. He placed the backpack he carried on the sales counter in front of him. He and the victim chatted.

Within two minutes of arriving and without provocation, Constant pulled a knife out of his backpack, jumped over the counter and chased both employees.

They fled out the rear door. The 52-year-old woman ran to a neighboring business to call 911, glancing back to see Constant hacking her coworker amid her screams. When the screaming stopped, she testified she thought the victim had died.

The victim played dead on the ground outside. After Constant fled, she returned to the inside of the business and eventually collapsed. Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies found her in a pool of her blood and suffering from extensive injuries. Gashes to her head suggested he had the intent to kill her. The victim eventually underwent 15 surgeries and years of physical therapy.

Detectives started the investigation with only the first name of the perpetrator based off the victim and witness’s statements. Detectives quickly received an anonymous tip about a possible suspect with the first name “Tyrone”. A photographic line-up was shown to the victim including that man. The victim did not recognize any of the photographs.

The following day, the victim’s co-worker contacted the Sheriff’s Office, providing detectives with Constant’s full name. The detectives later returned to the victim with a second photographic lineup, this one including Constant’s photograph. She immediately pointed out Constant.

The co-worker, when shown a lineup, selected Constant and said she was “100-percent certain” that he was the attacker.

On May 27, 2020, at about 1:15 a.m., a deputy patrolling Harvey spotted Constant in a convenience store in the 1600 block of Lapalco Boulevard. The deputy recognized Constant from a wanted bulletin associated with the attack and arrested him. The weapon Constant used has not been recovered.

Jurors also heard testimony about Constant previously having been fired from a pizza restaurant nearby. He had returned to his former workplace at a later date, drew a knife, and was forcibly removed by three employees.

At trial, Constant’s defense attorney challenged the veracity of the victim’s and coworker’s identifying his client as the perpetrator. He further assailed the Sheriff’s Office for failing to try to get fingerprints from the business to confirm the identity of the perpetrator.

Constant was tried in absentia because he refused to leave his cell at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center.

Judge Jacqueline Maloney of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Constant on Feb. 21.

Assistant District Attorneys Kristen Landrieu and Ashton Robinson prosecuted the case.

 

For shooting a man in the back in Kenner, Shyheem Love convicted of attempted murder, other crimes

A Jefferson Parish jury on Tuesday night (Oct 3) convicted Shyheem Love of shooting a 61-year-old man in the back when he was criminally barred from possessing guns, and then from the parish jail tried to concoct a scheme to pay the victim $5,000 to recant.

Love, 28, of LaPlace, is guilty as charged of attempted second-degree murder, simple criminal damage of property and of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, jurors decided. He additionally was convicted of attempted obstruction of justice.

The shooting happened Dec. 22, 2021, in the 1600 block of Newport Place in Kenner, just outside Love’s girlfriend’s apartment. She had just been released from the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna and needed a ride to Kenner. A 61-year-old family friend with whom she had had sexual encounters in the past gave her that ride in his work van. He had taken with him her three young children to get their mother from the jail.

Outside her apartment, the woman was retrieving her children from the man’s work van to bring them inside. That’s when the man noticed Love standing nearby.

Love asked to speak with the man. He then asked the man to exit his van. The man refused. Love then fired three or four bullets at the van. The man sped away to his home in the 3600 block of Loyola Drive in Kenner. Once home, he noticed his back was wet with his own blood. The Kenner Police Department was notified.

After the man was treated and released from a hospital, he identified Love as the shooter by selecting his image in a photographic lineup. The man was familiar with Love but knew him only by his first name.

Love was arrested. While awaiting trial in the parish jail in Gretna, Love made numerous phone calls to his father and to his girlfriend. Knowing that the phone calls are recorded, he nonetheless made efforts to buy the victim’s silence through a $5,000 payoff. Love attempted to conceal his scheme through referring to it as “playing Monopoly,” a reference to the board game.

Love was convicted of attempted second-degree murder for shooting the victim; simple criminal damage to property valued at between $1,000 and $50,000 for damaging the victim’s work van with the bullets; and of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm (he was convicted in 2015 of second-degree battery in St. John the Baptist Parish). Love was charged with obstruction of justice for his scheme to get the victim to recant, but jurors returned with the verdict of attempted obstruction of justice.

The jury that was seated on Monday deliberated about 1 ½ hours before returning with its verdicts about 7 p.m., Tuesday. Judge Michael Mentz of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Love on Nov. 2.

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