Tag: domestic abuse

Nathaniel Hernandez guilty of murder in stabbing, beating death of his girlfriend

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday (July 6) found Nathaniel Hernandez guilty of brutally stabbing and beating his girlfriend to death before dragging her body into a West Bank wooded area to hide it and setting her car on fire to eliminate evidence. 

Hernandez, 43, of Marrero, who used the name Nathan Mendoza and has a history of physically abusing women, was convicted as charged of the second-degree murder of Sara Torello, 32, and of obstruction of justice for tampering with evidence. 

The mother of a young son whom she dropped off at his New Orleans school within hours of her death, Torello suffered 22 stab wounds, including 10 to her head and neck, one of which pierced her right carotid artery.  

“The defendant and the victim, Sara Torello, had a violent relationship,” Assistant District Attorney Piper Didier told jurors in opening statements on Tuesday. “You will find him guilty as charged. Hold him accountable.” 

“Twenty-two stab wounds, each time, each stab, each punch: Specific intent to kill,” Assistant District Attorney Leo Aaron told jurors in closing argument Thursday in urging them to find Hernandez guilty as charged. “Twenty-two times, over and over and over again. He wanted her dead, and he was not going to stop until she was.” 

At about 9:30 a.m., on Nov. 17, 2022, Jefferson Parish Drainage Department employees were clearing a canal bank in the 3800 block of Alex Kornman Drive in Harvey when they witnessed Hernandez beating and stabbing Torello inside her Honda CRV. 

Torello screamed for help. One of the parish employees called 911, telling the operator they needed police immediately because he was killing her. Hernandez pulled Torello out of the driver’s seat and into the passenger’s seat. He then drove away. Another employee used his cell phone to record a video of the CRV being driven away. “He killed her, bro!”, one of the workers is heard saying in the video. 

Another employee got the license plate number, enabling the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office to determine that Torello owned the CRV. As a search was underway for the victim and suspect, deputies spoke with Torello’s father, who informed them that she was in a violent and tumultuous, on-again, off-again relationship with Hernandez. 

Detectives then went to Hernandez’s residence in Marrero. There, the detectives learned that Hernandez had been at the residence at about 10:30 a.m. and departed with a gasoline container.  

At about 2:20 p.m., the Sheriff’s Office was notified of a car fire in a wooded area in the 700 block of Churchill Parkway in Avondale. It was Torello’s CRV, which Hernandez drove deep into the wooded area on a trail that was too narrow to be used by fire trucks.  

Nearby, deputies found Torello’s body beneath branches and sticks. At the autopsy, the forensic pathologist determined that scratches on her back were consistent with her being dragged through the wooded area.   

The Sheriff’s Office scoured the wooded area using canines and drones in search of Hernandez. At about 6:30 p.m., he emerged from the woods into a clearing the Sheriff’s Office used as a staging area for the search operation. He was arrested. 

When interviewed by detectives, Hernandez said he “floated” into the wooded area and asserted that a detective might have killed Torello. He admitted that he had been in the CRV with Torello, and that they fought. But he said he left the vehicle and never killed her. 

Hernandez’s hoodie, which he was seen wearing earlier that day, was found near the incinerated CRV. It had Torello’s blood on it. 

Among his belongings when he was arrested was a lighter and box of LD 100s cigarettes with the top missing. Near the burnt CRV, detectives found the partially burned top of that cigarette box, further placing Hernandez at the crime scene. 

Hernandez already had been convicted of battery on a dating partner involving a previous girlfriend in 2020, jurors learned this week. 

Jurors also heard testimony showing that he physically abused Torello at least four times during the two months before her death. In one of those incidents, she hid from Hernandez in the women’s restroom at a West Bank pharmacy and called her father for help. In another, she showed up at an emergency room for treatment of injuries, claiming that a group of women beat her. A man believed to be Hernandez was in the waiting room. He vanished before police arrived. 

Jurors, who heard testimony from 27 state witnesses over a 2-day period, deliberated less than 1 ½ hours before returning with the verdicts just after lunch. 

Judge Michael Mentz of the 24th Judicial District Court set sentencing for Aug. 19. 

Assistant District Attorneys Piper Didier and Leo Aaron prosecuted the case. 

 

 

 

Miker Ginorio convicted of murdering his father with a baseball bat

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday evening (Aug. 6) found Miker Ginorio guilty of beating his father to death with a wooden baseball bat in their Gretna home. 

Ginorio, 42, is guilty of second-degree murder in the March 31, 2020, death of Carlos Ginorio Sr., 69. The Gretna Police Department responded to complaints involving the elder Ginorio and his son at the residence in the 2500 block of Claire Avenue numerous times during the year leading up to the homicide. On the day before the murder, a neighbor heard Ginorio yell at his father, “I will kill you tonight.” 

“This circle of domestic violence involving Mr. (Carlos) Ginorio was a sick and sad circle,” Assistant District Attorney Brooke Harris told jurors in opening statements Monday.  

“This is a gruesome attack,” Assistant District Attorney Taylor Somerville told jurors in closing argument Thursday. “This is a personal attack. This is domestic violence.” 

An expert in crime scene reconstruction and blood spatter pattern analysis, Dr. Timothy Scanlan, testified that the elder Ginorio was sitting on his sofa when Ginorio struck him in the head from behind. It was the first of at least seven blows to the head. 

A struggle followed in the kitchen, where at 8:34 p.m., the father tried to dial his cell phone. He was unable to complete the dial, and there were no more calls from that phone afterward (police later found the phone under the kitchen table). 

The attacks culminated in the rear bedroom, where the body was later found. The bloody baseball bat was leaning against the wall next to the body. 

At 8:57 p.m., the front door to the residence was opened and closed for the last time before the body was found the following day, according to the home security system records detectives obtained. 

Hours later, at about 4 a.m., on April 1, 2020, police in Jennings, La., responded to a complaint about a man in a fast-food restaurant parking lot in that Jefferson Davis Parish city about 180 miles west of Gretna. It was Ginorio, who was in his father’s Toyota Camry. He had cash but no identification. Because he committed no crime there, the police suggested he sleep at a nearby motel.  

Soon after, police received a complaint about someone driving erratically. It was Ginorio again. This time, the police arrested him on a charge of public intoxication. Ginorio mentioned something about a baseball bat. The police determined that he was driving his father’s car and so asked Gretna police to contact the elder Ginorio about whether his son had permission to have the vehicle. 

A Gretna police officer received no response when he knocked on the Ginorio residence door. Gretna PD reached another of the Ginorio sons. That son went to the Claire Avenue residence to check on his father. After receiving no response, the son notified Gretna PD to inform them that he would force entry. 

Gretna PD dispatched an officer to the residence. By the time the officer arrived, the son had already found his father’s body. He was “physically hysterical,” Assistant DA Harris told jurors. Neighbors also emerged from the residence. 

The officer went inside and found “a blood bath,” with blood on the walls, the ceiling and even smeared across the thermostat that was set at 59 degrees, Assistant DA Harris said.  

“Mr. Ginorio Sr. was beaten so badly that his skull was fractured in multiple places. His face was nearly unrecognizable,” she told jurors. 

When questioned by Gretna detectives, Ginorio appeared to know that his father was dead, even though the officers said nothing to him about the elder man having died. Ginorio eventually said he had been at the residence with his father, and two men he knew as “Stank” and “Tall Man” arrived with plans to beat his father with baseball bats. He said his father talked these men into allowing him to leave. So, Ginorio asserted, he drove away in his father’s car. 

The cash that Ginorio had when arrested in Jennings had his father’s blood on it, according to a DNA analysis. Shorts in the car also had blood on it. In the bathroom at the Claire Avenue residence, police found a glove with the elder Ginorio’s blood on the exterior and Ginorio’s DNA on the inside. 

“All evidence points to Miker,” Assistant DA Harris said. “All science points to Miker.” 

At trial, Giornio’s attorneys argued that he did not kill his father. They told jurors that detectives failed to rule out Ginorio’s brother as a suspect. They also said that at least four civilians had entered the house before police arrived, calling it “a contaminated crime scene.” On the matter of DNA, the defense attorneys argued that the father and son both lived in the same residence, so it would be reasonable to believe that both men’s genetic material would be in the house. 

Jurors who were selected on Monday deliberated about an hour before returning with their unanimous verdict. 

Judge Stephen Grefer of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Ginorio on Aug. 26. 

Assistant District Attorneys Brooke Harris and Taylor Somerville prosecuted the case. 

Lam Thach guilty of murdering Ngoc Bich Nguyen in domestic violence stabbing

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday (May 9) found Lam Thach guilty of killing his girlfriend by plunging a knife into her neck in Marrero.

Thach, 43, is guilty as charged of the second-degree murder of Ngoc Bich Nguyen, 41, in Marrero on Aug. 1, 2021, jurors unanimously decided.

A native of Vietnam, Nguyen was the oldest of six children who immigrated to the United States in 1990, first to Dallas, Texas, and then Metairie two years later. At the time of her death, she was living in Algiers with an uncle and had been dating Thach about three years.

In the months prior to her death, she twice called New Orleans police to her Joycelyn Drive home to report that Thach had physically abused her. He strangled her, threatened to not let her leave and was armed with a knife, she told police, who arrested him. Just four days after he was released from his bond obligations in the last arrest, he killed her.

On Aug. 1, 2021, after Thach sent Nguyen messages in which he maligned her family and called her derogatory names, Nguyen asked her mother to speak with Thach’s father, with whom she was acquainted.

Nguyen, her mother and her mother’s boyfriend drove to the Ames Boulevard trailer park in Marrero where Thach lived with his father. They spoke with Thach’s father, who in turn wanted his son to apologize.

Without apparent provocation, Thach entered the room and slapped Nguyen as she sat on the sofa. He then locked the front door to prevent anyone from leaving. He threatened to kill Nguyen and then went to the kitchen. Nguyen’s mother called 911.

Thach’s father unlocked the door, and Nguyen’s mother’s boyfriend walked out. Her mother was following him. Nguyen remained behind, sending a text message to her uncle and telling him that Thach slapped her. Her mother was near the front door when Thach reappeared from the kitchen, telling Nguyen, “You cannot leave.”

Nguyen called out: Thach had a knife and was trying to kill her. Her mother turned back toward her daughter. She saw Thach pulling the knife out of her first-born’s neck.

Nguyen’s mother held her hand and walked her out of the trailer, fearing that Thach would harm her, too. They called 911 again. Nguyen then lay on the ground. Cradling her daughter’s head and trying to stop the bleeding, her mother cried, “Don’t leave me.” Nguyen died there in her mother’s arms.

Thach casually walked away, removing his shirt and discarding it in a nearby garbage bin. A Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy responding to the 911 call spotted and arrested him five minutes after he killed Nguyen. Questioned later by a detective, Thach said, “I will take my lick,” street talk for taking the punishment for his actions.

At trial, his attorneys laid blame on Nguyen and her family because they went to the trailer to initiate a confrontation. They asked jurors to consider manslaughter, a lesser homicide offense. And they painted Thach as a sympathetic person who immigrated to the United States about a decade ago, is illiterate, worked as a fisher and is unable to speak clearly because of a cleft lip.

Jurors who were seated Tuesday deliberated about 40 minutes before returning their verdicts. In addition to the murder, Thach was convicted as charged of obstruction of justice for discarding the shirt, which was evidence.

Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Thach on May 22.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Tommy Block prosecuted the case.

 

Donovan Lafrance convicted of murdering his ex’s new boyfriend in jealous rage

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday (Dec. 7) convicted Donovan Lafrance of murdering his ex-girlfriend’s boyfriend in a jealous rage in her West Bank apartment last year.

Lafrance, 30, of Gretna, is guilty as charged of first-degree murder for shooting Clarence Harvey twice in the chest and once in the head, jurors unanimously decided.

Harvey, 31, of Braithwaite, was fatally shot at about 12:45 a.m., on Sept. 29, 2022, in the bedroom of his 28-year-old girlfriend’s apartment in the 3200 block of Wall Boulevard in Harvey. He was pronounced dead soon after.

Donovan Lafrance “wasn’t going there for the pots and pans, ladies and gentlemen. He was going there to kill Clarence Henry, because he couldn’t take (his ex-girlfriend) moving on.” – Assistant District Attorney Taylor Somerville

Lafrance dated the woman for about five years, but she parted ways with him in 2021 because of his physically abusive behavior. In May 2021, he struck her with his fist and then with a pistol, requiring her to seek medical attention. She received five stiches for that beating. She declined to press charges but distanced herself from Lafrance. In September 2022, days after he saw his ex-girlfriend with Harvey, Lafrance strangled her by putting his hands around her neck, leading her to pass out. She did not contact the police.

Despite the abuse and breakup, they remained in contact during the year that followed. They even traveled to New York together the week before the murder. But she made it clear that they were no longer in a relationship. Lafrance was aware that she had been dating Harvey and even knew him.

During the day before the murder, she and Lafrance exchanged numerous text messages, discussing their failed relationship, her distrust of him because of his physical abuse and her moving on with her life. She told him she wanted to be in a place in her life where she could trust him again, referencing his physical abuse. She described him as a man with conflicting sides: a prince who she would marry but also an abuser. He acknowledged it and said he “wouldn’t never touch another female another day my life.”

That evening, she went to her job at a Marrero bar. Lafrance sent a text message, asking what she was doing. At work, she replied, and she added that Harvey and another man were there.

Two minutes later, he asked her in a text message, “He sleeping there huh?” She replied saying Harvey would not be, but he and other friends would be visiting her at her apartment after work.

The text messages continued. She reiterated her thoughts about his physical abuse, and apologetically said she had to heal “on my own.” She sent her last text message to Lafrance at 11:12 p.m.

After her shift ended, she and Harvey drove separately to her apartment. After midnight, Lafrance called her phone several times. She didn’t answer. At 12:33 a.m., he sent her a text message, saying “The worst thing is too [sic] not answer.”

Lafrance went to her apartment. “He wasn’t going there for the pots and pans, ladies and gentlemen,” Assistant District Attorney Taylor Somerville told jurors in closing argument Thursday morning. “He was going there to kill Clarence Henry, because he couldn’t take (his ex-girlfriend) moving on.”

Less than 10 minutes after sending his ex-girlfriend that last text message, Lafrance repeatedly rang her doorbell and then banged on the door. She dressed to see who was at the door. But before she could answer it, Lafrance kicked the door open. He ran up to the second-floor bedroom and burst through the bedroom door and struck her. He demanded the keys to her car so he could retrieve his property from the vehicle and stormed out. He was retrieving his 9mm semiautomatic pistol.

He returned to the apartment minutes later. Harvey, who was partially nude and unarmed, remained in her bedroom during the incident. Lafrance returned to the bedroom and without provocation he pointed the pistol at Harvey, who was still in the bed.

Lafrance fired the first five bullets from outside the bedroom door, striking Harvey twice in the chest. He then entered the bedroom, stood over Harvey and fired the sixth bullet into his head.

“He was fueled by anger. What he did on that day was nothing short of first-degree murder.” – Assistant District Attorney Lindsay Truhe.

At 12:42 a.m., she called 911 and frantically pleaded with Lafrance not to shoot. “Don’t hit me, please,” and “Please, Donovan, stop,” she told him. The call was disconnected. Lafrance pulled the cell phone from her hand before fleeing with it to his car, whose engine he left running before he kicked in the apartment door. Two minutes later, she called 911 again. Jurors heard recordings of the calls.

“He was fueled by anger,” Assistant District Attorney Lindsay Truhe told jurors Tuesday in opening statements. “What he did on that day was nothing short of first-degree murder.”

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived shortly after and found Harvey lying face up beside a wall in the bedroom. Lafrance was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder, based on his committing an aggravated burglary by forcing his way inside the apartment.

In testimony on Wednesday night, Lafrance admitted that he shot Harvey but believed that Harvey had a gun. He also blamed his behavior on his girlfriend, saying she lied to and cheated on him. His attorney accused the woman of inciting the murder. He suggested his client at most was guilty of manslaughter, which is a homicide committed in the heat of passion and carries a sentence of up to 40 years in prison.

The jury that heard two days of testimony deliberated about 1 hour and 15 minutes before returning with its verdict: Guilty as charged of first-degree murder. The District Attorney’s Office did not seek the death penalty.

Judge Donnie Rowan of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Lafrance on Dec. 12.

Assistant District Attorneys Taylor Somerville and Lindsay Truhe prosecuted the case.

Shawn Chiasson pleads guilty as charged to murdering ex-girlfriend

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (July 5) sentenced Shawn Chiasson to spend the rest of his life in prison after the defendant abruptly ended his murder trial and pleaded guilty as charged to killing his estranged girlfriend.

Chiasson, 28, of Marrero, pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Lindsey Williams, 29, by shooting her once in the left side of her head in the bedroom of her home in the 1100 block of Gaudet Drive. He then fled, leaving her 11-year-old son behind with his dying mother on the morning of Aug. 14, 2021.

The jury that was seated last week returned to 24th Judicial District Judge Ray Steib’s courtroom on Wednesday to hear testimony. Jurors heard the state’s opening statement. Jurors heard testimony from Williams’ mother and were midway through the direct examination of Chiasson’s ex-girlfriend when he decided to plead guilty.

In addition to second-degree murder, Chiasson pleaded guilty as charged to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and to obstruction of justice. He was prohibited from possessing firearms because of a 2021 conviction of possession of heroin. After he shot Williams, Chiasson fled to Westwego, where he dumped the pistol along a canal bank – leading to the obstruction of justice charge.

Judge Steib sentenced Chiasson to the mandatory life sentence for the murder, 20 years for the firearm charge and 40 for the obstruction of justice. He ran the sentences concurrently.

On the night before her death, Williams gathered with friends at a downtown Gretna restaurant and then on the Mississippi River levee. Chiasson arrived and texted her, “I’m looking dead at you.”

Just before 9 a.m., the following morning, her son was in his bedroom when he heard something across the hall in his mother’s bedroom. He opened the door and saw Chiasson with blood on his hands.

Chiasson then used the child’s cell phone to call 911, telling the operator that his name was “Jake,” and saying someone had been shot. Chiasson fled, and the child waited on the front porch for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office to arrive.

Following his arrest two days later, Chiasson told detectives that the pistol accidentally fired as he removed it from his pants’ waistband.

Chiasson’s public defender waived giving an opening statement Wednesday. Chiasson’s ex-girlfriend was the second witness, who was called to testify about a 2017 incident in which he beat her while she was eight months pregnant. She refused to answer a prosecutor’s questions Wednesday and faced a contempt hearing. It was while she was on the witness stand that Chiasson told his public defender that he would plead guilty as charged.

Jurors briefly left the courtroom on Wednesday, unaware that Chiasson was pleading guilty. Judge Steib called the jurors back to his courtroom and told him about the guilty plea. The jurors voluntarily remained in court to hear victim impact testimony and to see Chiasson sentenced.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Tommy Block prosecuted the case.

 

Darryl Vinson gets 115-year sentence for brutalizing woman

A Jefferson Parish judge has sentenced Darryl Vinson to 115 years in prison for his conviction of brutalizing and beating a woman he held captive in her Gretna home for three days in 2021.

Vinson, 60, of Marrero, was convicted as charged by a Jefferson Parish jury on May 3 of attempted second-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping, second-degree sexual battery and false imprisonment with a dangerous weapon.

Judge Ray Steib of the 24th Judicial District Court on Thursday (June 15) sentenced Vinson to 50 years for attempted second-degree murder, 40 years for second-degree kidnapping, 15 years for second-degree sexual battery and 10 years for false imprisonment with a dangerous weapon.

Judge Steib ran the sentences consecutively, for a total of 115 years.

The crimes occurred between Jan. 27, 2021 and Jan. 29, 2021, in the 48-year-old woman’s Claire Avenue home.

He hogtied the naked woman, forced her to sleep on the cold tile floor in a closet, made her crawl on all fours when he let her leave the closet, kicked her and inserted the barrel of her pistol into her body. He stabbed her in the forehead and left lacerations from a serrated knife blade just below her neck.

To prevent her from crying aloud, he inserted dirty underwear and socks into her mouth and used duct tape to keep them in place. He forced her to eat cat food and injected methamphetamine into her body. He wouldn’t let her use her phone.

The victim’s injuries included brain bleeding, a fractured eye socket for which she has a titanium plate, fractured ribs, a bruised lung and numerous lacerations and ligature marks on her neck, wrists and ankles. She was hospitalized for 12 days, four of which were spent in an intensive care unit.

The sexual assault nurse examiner who documented the victim’s injuries testified that the case is “one of the most severe that I’ve seen.”

Vinson, who was homeless, met the woman outside a Gretna-area drugstore and befriended her. Their platonic relationship evolved into a romantic one. He moved in with her.

Just days after she had surgery to treat a hernia, on Jan. 27, 2021, the victim accompanied Vinson to his mother’s home in Marrero. Feeling the pain of her surgery, she returned to her Gretna home. Vinson arrived later and began accusing her of having sex with another man – assertions she denied.

The physical abuse began and continued until Jan. 29, 2021. After flashing a pistol at her, Vinson forced the victim to walk to Manhattan Boulevard and the Westbank Expressway in Harvey to panhandle motorists.

Soon after, witnesses began calling 911 to report Vinson beating the victim. In one 911 recording, a caller described the victim as being “black and blue and covered in blood.” Gretna police, which investigated the crimes, found much of her home in disarray, except for the master bedroom that smelled of bleach because of Vinson’s attempt to clean it.

Vinson’s attorney argued that his client and the victim wrangled with substance abuse problems, and that her recollections about what occurred might not be as clear as she now asserts.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Tommy Block prosecuted the case.

 

Convicted of killing his children’s mother, Kenny Rojas sentenced to life in prison

A Jefferson Parish judge on Tuesday (May 16) sentenced Kenny Rojas to spend the rest of his life in prison for his conviction of shooting his estranged girlfriend in the chest and fleeing, leaving her to die with their three young children.

Rojas, 38, was convicted as charged Thursday of second-degree murder for killing Lizeth Maldonado, 32, in their home in the 1200 block of Angus Drive in Harvey, on Feb. 27, 2022. He also was convicted of obstruction of justice, for getting rid of the revolver he used to kill her.

Amid an argument over infidelity, Rojas pressed a revolver to Maldonado’s left breast and fired once. Their 12-year-old daughter heard the gunshots, went to her parents’ bedroom and saw her father shooting her mother. “He killed me,” the child heard her mother said.

Rojas fled, leaving behind his daughter and sons, ages seven and eight. His daughter called 911, whose operator instructed the child on life-saving measures until deputies arrived minutes later. Maldonado died on the floor of her bedroom.

Rojas surrendered to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office about six hours later. At trial, he asserted he was trying to prevent Maldonado from shooting herself, and during the struggle over the revolver, it fired.

After denying a defense request for a new trial, 24th Judicial District Judge Nancy Miller noted Rojas’ trial testimony, in which he said his children lied. “You abandoned them as you abandoned your wife as she lay there bleeding on the floor,” she told Rojas.

For second-degree murder, she sentenced Rojas to the mandatory life sentence in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. Judge Miller also sentenced Rojas to the maximum 40 years for obstruction of justice. She ran the sentences concurrently.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Leo Aaron prosecuted the case.

Jefferson Parish jury: Kenny Rojas murdered girlfriend, fled leaving their 3 children with dying mother

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday (May 11) found Kenny Rojas guilty of fatally shooting his estranged girlfriend during an argument before he fled, leaving their three young children in their Harvey home with their dying mother.

Rojas, 38, was convicted as charged of the second-degree murder of Lizeth Maldonado, 32, who died Feb. 27, 2022, in the bedroom of her home in the 1200 block of Angus Drive. He also was convicted as charged of obstruction of justice, for getting rid of the revolver he used to commit the murder.

During the argument, in which Rojas accused Maldonado of having an affair, he pressed the barrel of his revolver against her left breast and fired one bullet. Their 12-year-old daughter was bathing when she heard the gunshot.

The child ran to the bedroom and saw her father shooting and pointing the pistol at her mother. She heard her mother say, “He killed me.”

Rojas told his daughter to call 911 and fled, leaving the child and her younger brothers, ages seven and eight, alone in the residence.

The 911 operator instructed the 12-year-old girl to perform CPR on her mother and to apply direct pressure to the bullet wound to slow the bleeding. As one of her brothers wailed in the background, the child performed the lifesaving tasks on her mother until the first Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived. Her mother died on the bedroom floor, just over 10 minutes after she called 911.

Immediately after he shot Maldonado, Rojas drove to Bayou Segnette State Park in Westwego. It was there that members of his family met him and drove him away.

About six hours later, the Sheriff’s Office received a call from a relative of Rojas’, saying he wanted to turn himself in. Deputies arrested Rojas at a Terrytown residence. Before his arrest, Rojas admitted to numerous family members that he shot Maldonado.

His daughter told detectives and a forensic child abuse interviewer that he shot her mother.

During trial, Rojas’ attorneys suggested that Maldonado’s family influenced her daughter’s saying that her father shot her mother. They also argued that Maldonado held the gun and pointed it at their client and then at herself. They asserted that their client tried to disarm Maldonado, and during the tussle, the bullet was fired.

However, based on the location of the bullet wound and the angle the bullet followed through her body, the defense theory is unlikely, according to the forensic pathologist.

The jury deliberated about one hour and 15 minutes before returning with its verdicts. Judge Nancy Miller of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Rojas on Tuesday (May 16).

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Leo Aaron prosecuted the case.

 

NOTE: This post was updated on May 16, 2023, to correct Ms. Maldonado’s age.

Darryl Vinson convicted of brutalizing, dehumanizing girlfriend in Gretna

A Jefferson Parish jury on Wednesday (May 3) found Darryl Vinson guilty of brutalizing and beating a woman as he held her captive in her Gretna home for three days in 2021.

Vinson, 60, of Marrero, was convicted as charged of attempted second-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping, second-degree sexual battery and false imprisonment with a dangerous weapon. After reaching their verdicts, jurors told the judge they would like to return to court to see Vinson sentenced to prison.

The crimes occurred between Jan. 27, 2021 and Jan. 29, 2021, in the 48-year-old woman’s Claire Avenue home. “Over a three-day period,” the victim was “beaten, bound and brutalized at the merciless hands of this man,” Assistant District Attorney Lindsay Truhe told jurors in opening statements Tuesday.

Vinson hogtied the naked woman, forced her to sleep on the cold tile floor in a closet, made her crawl on all fours when he let her leave the closet, kicked her and inserted the barrel of her pistol into her body. He stabbed her in the forehead and left lacerations from a serrated knife blade just below her neck.

To prevent her from crying aloud, he inserted dirty underwear and socks into her mouth and used duct tape to keep them in place. He forced her to eat cat food and injected methamphetamine into her body. He wouldn’t let her use her phone.

Using a chord, he strangled her at least three times. “She lost consciousness on three occasions,” Assistant District Attorney Tommy Block told jurors in closing argument Wednesday. “She woke up one time, and she thought she was dead.”

The victim’s injuries included brain bleeding, a fractured eye socket for which she has a titanium plate, fractured ribs, a bruised lung and numerous lacerations and ligature marks on her neck, wrists and ankles. She was hospitalized for 12 days, four of which were spent in an intensive care unit.

The sexual assault nurse examiner who documented the victim’s injuries testified that the case is “one of the most severe that I’ve seen.”

Vinson, who was homeless, met the woman outside a Gretna-area drugstore and befriended her. Their platonic relationship evolved into a romantic one. He moved in with her.

Just days after she had surgery to treat a hernia, on Jan. 27, 2021, the victim accompanied Vinson to his mother’s home in Marrero. Feeling the pain of her surgery, she returned to her Gretna home. Vinson arrived later and began accusing her of having sex with another man – assertions she denied.

The physical abuse began and continued until Jan. 29, 2021. After flashing a pistol at her, Vinson forced the victim to walk to Manhattan Boulevard and the Westbank Expressway in Harvey to panhandle motorists.

Soon after, witnesses began calling 911 to report Vinson beating the victim. In one 911 recording, a caller described the victim as being “black and blue and covered in blood.” Gretna police, which investigated the crimes, found much of her home in disarray, except for the master bedroom that smelled of bleach because of Vinson’s attempt to clean it.

Vinson’s attorney argued that his client and the victim wrangled with substance abuse problems, and that her recollections about what occurred might not be as clear as she now asserts.

The jury that was seated on Monday deliberated for about one hour Wednesday before returning with its unanimous verdicts. Judge Ray Steib of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Vinson on June 15.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Tommy Block prosecuted the case.

 

 

Metairie man convicted of domestic abuse by strangulation

A Jefferson Parish jury has found Jose Sagastume guilty of strangling his wife during an argument in their Metairie home.

Sagastume, 34, was convicted as charged of domestic abuse by strangulation for the Sept. 15, 2019, incident.

According to evidence presented at trial, Sagastume returned home from a night out drinking and accused his wife of being unfaithful. The ensuing argument escalated to violence, when Sagastume tackled her, put his hands around her neck and began strangling her, according to trial evidence.

As the argument unfolded, the wife telephoned her cousin and asked him to go to their home. Amid the attack, the cousin arrived and knocked on the door, which enabled her to escape and call 911.

The jury heard testimony about a prior incident involving a physical altercation over jealousy.

Sagastume denied strangling his wife, an assertion the jury rejected after deliberating for about two hours on Tuesday (Nov. 9).

Judge R. Christopher Cox of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Sagastume on Monday (Nov. 15).

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Africk and Stephen Downer prosecuted the case.