A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday night (April 17) found Monica Every and Louis Gordon guilty of conspiring to kill her ex-boyfriend’s new lover, a scheme they carried out after Every’s harassment campaign failed to end the relationship.
Their conspiracy culminated on the morning of Jan. 27, 2022, when Gordon fatally shot Every’s romantic rival, Charlene Jones, in Metairie. For that, Every paid Gordon $10,000.
Jones, 48, was shot three times from the back while sitting in her car outside her apartment in the gated complex in the 2500 block of South Interstate 10 Service Road, near Causeway Boulevard.
Every, 52, of LaPlace, was convicted of being a principal to second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and solicitation for second-degree murder.
Gordon, 37, of New Orleans, was convicted of second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree murder, of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and of obstruction of justice.
Every’s boyfriend broke off their 7-year relationship on Christmas Day 2021 to be with Jones. Every was aware of his involvement with Jones, evidenced by the string of angry text messages she sent to him on the day after Christmas, including one in which she called Jones “that old bitch dog.” During the following weeks, Every began an escalating pattern of harassing Jones.
“If Monica Every can’t have him, no one can. That’s what this case is about. It’s as simple as that,” Assistant District Attorney Lindsay Truhe told jurors on April 11 in opening statements. “(Every) was willing to do what it took to eliminate her.”
“It goes beyond obsession,” Assistant District Attorney Matthew Whitworth told jurors Thursday evening during closing argument.
Determined to end the relationship, Every had Gordon sprinkle “voodoo dust” on Jones’ car. She made harassing phone calls, leading Jones and her ex-boyfriend to change their phone numbers.
At Every’s request, Gordon planted a pistol in Jones’ car. Every then called Crimestoppers, anonymously reporting that the firearm hidden in Jones’ car was linked to a teenager’s homicide in New Orleans East. A New Orleans Police Department homicide detective, assisted by Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies, investigated the Crimestoppers tip. The detective quickly determined that neither Jones nor the pistol was tied in the New Orleans homicide.
Rattled by being questioned in connection with a homicide investigation, Jones immediately told detectives about Every’s ongoing harassment.
Every also hoped that the apartment complex management would bar her ex-boyfriend from the property. She obtained court records from Tangipahoa Parish, where he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 1997, and anonymously faxed them to the management from a local office supply store. Jefferson Parish detectives later confirmed that Every faxed the court records by viewing security video footage from the office supply store.
Every tried to get an acquaintance who resided in the apartment complex to report her felon ex-boyfriend’s presence on the property. She called that acquaintance seven times in one day in this failed effort.
“When she couldn’t scare Charlene Jones away, the evidence will show she paid this man to kill her,” Truhe told jurors, pointing to Gordon.
It was just before 5 a.m., on Jan. 27, 2022, when Jones slid into her driver’s seat just outside her apartment to prepare to drive to her job. Just as she started the engine and put the transmission in drive, Gordon began shooting.
Jones’ boyfriend was among the residents who heard the gunfire and who called 911. He ran to Jones’ car and opened the driver’s door to find her mortally wounded.
Deputies found her unresponsive in the driver’s seat. Next to the car, they found five spent 9mm bullet casings and bullet damage on the car. The bullet that ended Jones’ life passed through her left arm and entered her torso, where it punctured her lung and severed the aorta.
Detectives obtained video surveillance footage of the shooter’s car passing the momentarily untended guard house at the entrance to the apartment complex. Within five minutes, the car is seen speeding out of the complex.
Although the Ford Fusion had no license plate, detectives were able to identify its owner: Gordon’s girlfriend, a 29-year-old mother of four who lived in New Orleans East.
She was initially viewed as a suspect and booked with second-degree murder. She was jailed while Gordon fled to Florida, where he was later arrested. She allowed Gordon to use her car and one of her daughters’ cell phones on the morning Jones was murdered. She was aware that Gordon did odd tasks for Every, but she was unaware of the murder scheme.
She eventually was charged with and pleaded guilty to money laundering for handling some of the money that Every paid Gordon. She was sentenced to two years of probation and testified about Gordon’s interaction with Every and the money Every gave her boyfriend.
Detectives recovered cell phone communications and financial transactions that linked Every and Gordon to the conspiracy to kill Jones. Two cell phones that Gordon possessed were at the apartment complex when Jones was killed, including the one he borrowed from his girlfriend, detectives learned. Minutes after he shot Jones, Gordon sent a text message to her, “$$$.” Gordon even had his mother cash a $4,000 check that Every provided to him.
As the investigation unfolded, Every learned that detectives encountered Gordon. The next day, Every called the lead case detective, saying she had information to offer. She met detectives at a New Orleans coffee shop and, without being prompted to do so, she provided an alibi showing she was at her home in LaPlace when Jones was killed. Unbeknownst to the detectives, Every recorded their conversation on her cell phone.
Every’s and Gordon’s attorneys denied the charges. They said that Every’s ex-boyfriend or the father of Gordon’s girlfriend’s children could have killed Jones. In defending the money transactions between Every and Gordon, Gordon’s attorney said his client helped Every acquire cabinets for her home. In testimony Thursday, Gordon said he is innocent.
Jurors deliberated almost 2 ½ hours Thursday night before returning with their unanimous guilty verdicts on all counts. Judge R. Christopher Cox of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Every and Gordon on May 29.
Assistant District Attorneys Matthew Whitworth, Lindsay Truhe and Sarah Helmstetter prosecuted the case.
