Tag: homicide

Everette Campbell pleads guilty to role in Marrero homicide, gets 35-year sentence

A Jefferson Parish judge on Tuesday (May 24) sentenced Everette Campbell to 35 years in prison for his role in an attempted robbery during which his codefendant shot four people, killing two of them.

Campbell, 26, of Terrytown, pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter and one count of obstruction of justice.

The codefendant, Malik McGinnis, 25, of Avondale, has been convicted of being the gunman who shot and killed the two people and shot and injured two others.

The crime occurred just before 10 p.m., on Sept. 4, 2019, inside a four-bedroom home in the 3000 block of Sorbonne Drive. McGinnis, who had been acquainted with the victims, and Campbell went to the residence planning to steal from a resident who sold marijuana.

However, McGinnis shot and killed Ronald Eddington, 21. McGinnis then shot and killed Eddington’s 7-year-old sister. Her 11-year-old sister was shot in her left forearm. And a 19-year-old family friend was shot in his stomach as he wrestled with McGinnis.

During his jury trial, McGinnis was convicted as charged on Feb. 17 of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to life in prison on March 8.

A jury was selected on Monday to weigh evidence against Campbell. He was prosecuted as a principal to second-degree murder but offered Tuesday to plead guilty to the lesser offense of manslaughter. His attorneys told jurors during opening statements Monday that while Campbell was present in the residence, he did not shoot anyone and was unaware that McGinnis was going to shoot anyone.

Judge Michael Mentz of the 24th Judicial District Court presided over both cases. In accepting the guilty plea, Judge Mentz sentenced Campbell to 35 years in prison for each count of manslaughter and obstruction of justice, with one count of manslaughter to be served without benefit of probation or suspension of sentence. The sentences were run concurrent to each other and with a 6-month jail term for possession of risperidone without a prescription.

On Monday, Campbell also pleaded guilty to cultivation of marijuana and received a 5-year sentence. While investigating the Marrero homicides, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives discovered that Campbell was growing marijuana in his South Forest Lawn Drive apartment.

Assistant District Attorneys Douglas Rushton and Lynn Schiffman prosecuted Campbell and McGinnis.

Torus ‘T-Man’ Wallace guilty of Metairie killing over $35 drug debt

A Jefferson Parish jury on Tuesday night (May 10) found Torus “T-Man” Wallace guilty of manslaughter for killing a Metairie man struggling with substance abuse over a $35 drug debt.

Wallace, 24, of Metairie, killed Rene Rachel, 32, as he sat in his vehicle in the 500 block of North Elm Street, waiting for an intermediary to deliver “MOJO,” a street name for synthetic marijuana.

Wallace also was convicted as charged of obstruction of justice for removing the .45-caliber pistol he used to kill Rachel from the scene.

Just after 6 p.m., on March 29, 2020, Rachel, who struggled with addiction, traveled from his Metairie home to the neighborhood near Airline Drive and David Drive to purchase narcotics. As he entered the neighborhood, he picked up the intermediary who would acquire the synthetic marijuana for him.

As Rachel waited, Wallace appeared on a bicycle and inquired about drugs and the debt. When Rachel rebuffed him, Wallace brandished the pistol and fired once through the passenger side window. The bullet went through Rachel’s right forearm and struck him in the upper chest. He died shortly after in the parking lot of a business at Airline Drive and David Drive.

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office received a tip from a source indicating that “T-Man” was the killer. The Sheriff’s Office knew T-Man to be Wallace. Wallace was identified as the shooter by an eyewitness.

Jurors also heard testimony showing that four days before the shooting, Rachel went to the same neighborhood to acquire illegal narcotics and encountered Wallace. Wallace threatened to kill Rachel unless he paid the $35 drug debt.

Through his attorneys, Wallace denied shooting Rachel. His attorneys argued there was no credible evidence linking him to the crime.

Wallace was charged with second-degree murder, which carries a punishment of life in prison without parole, probation or suspension of sentence. The jury that was seated on Monday deliberated three hours before returning the lesser offense.

Judge Michael Mentz of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Wallace on May 26.

Assistant District Attorneys Thomas Sanderson and John Ransone prosecuted the case.

Convicted of fatally beating his girlfriend, Pedro Monterroso sentenced to life in prison

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (May 4) sentenced Pedro Monterroso to spend the rest of his life in prison for his conviction of beating his girlfriend to death as five of his children lay in a bed just feet away.

Monterroso, 51, received the mandatory sentence for his conviction of the second-degree murder of Heidy Monroy, 24.

During an argument over whether she was romantically involved with another man, Monterroso beat her with a length of rebar in the bathroom of their Durand Street apartment in Metairie on July 13, 2014.

Just outside the bathroom were five of his children, three of whom he fathered with Monroy.

Monterroso fled, leaving the two young sons he fathered with Monroy with their mother’s body in the bathtub. Those boys found their mother and alerted a neighbor, who notified the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. Monterroso fled to Texas with the other three children and was arrested the following day.

After denying a defense request for a new trial, 24th Judicial District Judge Donald “Chick” Foret sentenced Monterroso to the mandatory punishment of life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Kellie Rish and Zach Popovich prosecuted the case.

Terrance Leonard pleads guilty, gets 4 life sentences in Terrytown murders

A Jefferson Parish judge on Thursday (April 21) sentenced Terrance Leonard to four consecutive life sentences in prison for beating his girlfriend and three children to death with a hammer in their Terrytown apartment.

Leonard, 36, pleaded guilty as charged to four counts of first-degree murder in the March 6, 2019, deaths of Kristina Riley, 32, her 14-year-old daughter, her 10-year-old son and her 9-year-old niece. In connection with his plea, the District Attorney’s Office agreed to not seek the death penalty.

He also pleaded guilty as charged to the attempted first-degree murder of another of Ms. Riley’s daughters, who was 12 years old at the time of the attack, and to obstruction of justice.

Leonard received a 50-year sentence for the attempted first-degree murder, run consecutive to the four life sentences, and a 40-year sentence for the obstruction of justice.

The crimes happened in their apartment in the 900 block of West Monterey Court. On the morning of March 6, 2019, Leonard’s mother found the victims suffering from head trauma and notified the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs’ Office.

Ms. Riley, her son and her niece died in the apartment. Her 14-year-old daughter died days later at a hospital.

After Ms. Riley’s mother provided impact testimony, Judge Ray Steib of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Leonard.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Kellie Rish prosecuted the case.

Jury finds Arizona man guilty of negligent homicide in chokehold death

A Jefferson Parish judge on Friday (April 8) sentenced Vincent Medearis to five years in prison for his conviction of killing his inebriated coworker with a lethal chokehold in a Kenner hotel room two years ago.

The Friday morning sentencing hearing came about 18 hours after a jury found Medearis guilty of negligent homicide in the death of Isaias Fino, 39, of Goodyear, Ariz. Five years is the maximum sentence for negligent homicide under Louisiana law.

Medearis, 58, of Phoenix, Ariz., was charged with manslaughter. The jury deliberated about 2 ½ hours before returning with the negligent homicide verdict Thursday night. In doing so, jurors rejected Medearis’ self-defense claims.

In a victim-impact letter read aloud in court, Fino’s sisters asked for the maximum sentence. Although Fino was vilified in testimony during the trial, his sisters described him as the “kindhearted” father of a 5-year-old daughter whose death left “a void in (his mother’s) heart.”

Medearis expressed regret for his actions and asked Fino’s family to forgive him.

The men were employed by an Arizona-based roofing company and were in the New Orleans area for work, according to evidence presented at trial. They were staying in a hotel in the 2600 block of Williams Boulevard.

According to testimony, Fino, a foreman known among his subordinates for his obnoxious and abrasive personality, was drunk when about 9 p.m., on March 5, 2020, he went to a hotel room that Medearis shared with a roommate.

Hostile horseplay led to a physical altercation between Fino and the roommate, and then between Medearis and Fino, according to testimony. Medearis held Fino in a chokehold. The roommate told him to stop as Fino coughed and wheezed, according to testimony. Medearis told his roommate to report Fino’s behavior to their boss.

The roommate left the room to summon their boss, and when he returned, Fino was dead. Medearis remained on scene and called 911, according to testimony.

When Kenner Police Department Detective Nick Engler arrived at the hotel room, he found Medearis standing at the foot of the bed, smoking a cigarette and looking down on the body, the officer testified. In his statement to Detective Engler, Medearis said he held Fino in a chokehold until he stopped coughing and his body went limp.

Medearis’ chokehold caused a fracture in Fino’s thyroid cartilage. Fino died of asphyxia due to manual strangulation. Fino’s blood-alcohol content was .29 percent, more than three times over the legal limit to drive in Louisiana, according to evidence presented at trial.

Medearis, who had no violent criminal history, testified Thursday that he held Fino in a chokehold to restrain him. His attorneys argued that he was defending himself and asserted that the high alcohol content in Fino’s body could have hastened his death.

Prosecutors conceded that Medearis acted in the heat of blood, an element of manslaughter. But in holding Fino in a chokehold, Medearis had specific intent to inflict great bodily harm that led to Fino’s death, another element of manslaughter.

The prosecutors also argued that Medearis was guilty under the misdemeanor-manslaughter doctrine: Medearis was committing a simple battery when he caused Fino’s death.

Negligent homicide is defined as the killing of a human being by criminal negligence. Criminal negligence exists “there is such disregard of the interest of others that the offender’s conduct amounts to a gross deviation below the standard of care expected to be maintained by a reasonably careful man under like circumstances.”

“You held him long enough that you choked the life out of him,” Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court told Medearis in announcing the sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Christina Fisher and Joshua Vanderhooft prosecuted the case.

Jefferson Parish jury: Pedro Monterroso murdered girlfriend, left young sons with her body

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday (March 24) deliberated just over 20 minutes in convicting Pedro Monterroso of beating his girlfriend to death in their Metairie apartment while five of his children lay in a bed just feet away.

Monterroso, 51, is guilty as charged of the second-degree murder of Heidy Monroy, 24. The crime occurred in the early morning hours of July 13, 2014, in the apartment they shared in the 4000 block of Durand Street.

According to evidence presented at trial, Monterroso argued with Monroy over whether she was involved with another man. The fight turned physical, and he fatally beat and stabbed her as she lay in a bathtub. She died from blunt-force injuries to her head, and her hands had injuries indicative of defensive wounds.

After killing her, he rounded up three of his five children that were in the apartment and fled to Texas. The youngest of the three was a son he had with Monroy, a child who was whisked away wearing only a diaper, according to testimony. Monterroso fathered the other two children with Monroy’s sister.

Monterroso left behind in the apartment his two sons whom he fathered with Monroy. The boys found their mother’s nude body in the tub and sought help from a neighbor. That person notified the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, according to trial evidence.

Monterroso “just left them there to fend for themselves,” Assistant District Attorney Kellie Rish told jurors in closing argument.

Monterroso was arrested the following day in Katy, Texas, and later extradited to Jefferson Parish to face charges.

In the apartment, investigators found a length of rebar wrapped in duct tape. Monterroso’s DNA was recovered from one end of the bar. Monroy’s hair and blood was found on the other end, according to testimony.

Monterroso used numerous aliases, including Pedro Monterroso Navas, Pedro Alberto Monterroso Navas, Wilson Rigoberto Varela Mena, Marlin Jovani Varela Mena, Carlos Humberto Cisneros Avila and Alberto Cisneros.

During the three-day trial, jurors heard testimony showing that Monterroso was physically abusive to Monroy, her sister and his children. The abuse included him hanging them upside-down using chains while they lived in Central America.

Jurors also heard that he was romantically involved with Monroy’s sister, who bore four of his children while she was unaware that he was married to another woman. And while in this relationship, Monterroso began having a relationship with her younger sister Heidy Monroy, who was a juvenile when it started. He fathered children with her, too, according to testimony.

While acknowledging that their client killed Monroy, Monterroso’s attorneys urged the jury to not be swayed by sympathy for the children. The attorneys asked jurors find Monterroso guilty of negligent homicide, a crime that is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence is the mandatory punishment for second-degree murder. Judge Donald “Chick” Foret of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Monterroso on May 4.

Assistant District Attorney Zach Popovich assisted ADA Rish in prosecuting Monterroso.

For killing his girlfriend, Christopher Davis sentenced to life in prison

A Jefferson Parish judge on Monday (March 14) sentenced Christopher Davis to spend the rest of his life in prison for his conviction of shooting his girlfriend in the back of her head as she walked away from an argument.

Davis, 40, who has a history of domestic violence, was convicted last week of the second-degree murder of Lashonda Davis, 34, who died just outside the doorway to his Faith Place apartment in Terrytown on Jan. 5, 2020.

Life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence is the mandatory punishment for second-degree murder.

“All of our family has been given a life sentence,” her father Kenneth Sands told the court in impact testimony. “It’s time for the defendant to get his.”

The daughter of two military parents, she was born aboard Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., and lived throughout the United States, her father testified. She left behind three sons. Her 9-year-old sister wrote a letter to the court in lieu of live testimony. Assistant District Attorney Lindsay Truhe, who led the prosecution, read the letter aloud in court.

Sands had dated Davis about two years. Shortly before Davis murdered her, Sands received a text message from someone informing her of the death of a friend. Distraught over the news, she did not respond to Davis’ demands that she identify the person who died. An argument ensued, and he retrieved a .38-caliber revolver and fired it as she walked out of the apartment, according to trial testimony.

Members of her family traveled to the Jefferson Parish courthouse in Gretna from other states and as far as the Bahamas to attend last week’s trial. A jury deliberated about 40 minutes Thursday in unanimously finding Davis guilty as charged.

Earlier last week, Judge Nancy Miller of the 24th Judicial District Court, who presided over the murder trial, sentenced Davis to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He was legally barred from having guns because of a domestic violence conviction involving another woman.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Rachel Africk prosecuted the case.

Christopher Davis convicted of murdering his girlfriend in Terrytown

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday (March 10) found Christopher Davis guilty of shooting his girlfriend in the back of her head as she walked away from an argument.

Davis, 30, was convicted as charged of the second-degree murder of Lashonda Sands, 34.

A dating couple for about two years, Sands and Davis got into an argument just after midnight on Jan. 5, 2020, in his apartment in the 1900 block of Faith Place in Terrytown, according to trial testimony.

The argument began after she received a text message on her mobile device from someone who informed her of the death of a good friend. Word of the death led Sands to weep. Davis wanted to know who died, but she did not respond.

Her silence led Davis to argue with her, and that led to a physical altercation, according to evidence presented at trial.

Davis left the living room where the altercation occurred and retrieved his .38-caliber revolver. As he returned, a friend of the couple who was visiting at the time attempted to stop Davis, according to trial testimony.

Sands, meanwhile, walked out the apartment door. Davis shoved his friend to the side and extended his right hand under the friend’s arm and fired once, according to trial evidence.

The bullet struck her in the back of her head. Sands, the mother of three children, collapsed and died just outside the apartment entrance.

Davis’ young son was in the apartment, playing games when the shooting happened. Davis called 911 and lied to the operator, according to trial testimony.

He told he operator that he was inside the apartment when he heard a “pop” outside and found Sands bleeding from the head.

Deputies later found Davis’ revolver hidden in a bucket filled with his child’s toys. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office’s ballistics experts determined that the revolver was the murder weapon.

Davis’ attorneys argued that the revolver accidentally fired while the friend tried to stop him. The killing was not intentional, the attorneys argued.

Davis had a history of abusive and violent behavior toward Sands, according to trial testimony. In one incident, David threatened to retrieve a gun from a car so he could shoot her, a witness testified. In another incident, he fired three bullets into the ground during an argument, that witness testified. Never were police notified, the witness testified.

The jury deliberated about 40 minutes. Judge Nancy Miller of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Davis on Monday (March 14). Second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.

On Tuesday, Davis pleaded guilty as charged to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm in connection with his having the .38-caliber revolver. Judge Miller sentenced him to 10 years in prison for that offense.

Davis was legally prohibited from having guns because of a 2017 conviction of domestic abuse battery. In that case, Davis beat a woman with whom he had had romantic relationship.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Rachel Africk prosecuted the case.

 

Terrell Nix guilty of killing autistic, intellectually disabled man

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday night (Feb. 10) found Terrell Nix guilty in the death of an autistic, intellectually disabled man with limited communication skills whose disabilities left him completely dependent on the care of others.

Nix, 36, of Gretna, was convicted as charged of the second-degree murder of Rohn Brinker, 46, who died May 14, 2019, in the Terrytown apartment where he lived. Nix was employed by his mother, Denise Nix, who operated a home-healthcare company that provided Brinker with 24-hour care.

Nix worked the overnight shifts. A half-hour after his shift began on May 13, 2019, Nix used his cell phone to make a video of Brinker, who appeared terrified, whose lip was bloodied and stood zombie-like in responding to Nix’s barked orders, according to the video that was shown to jurors.

Two hours later, Nix called his mother, who in turn went to Brinker’s Holmes Boulevard apartment. Shortly after, she called 911, saying Brinker had fallen in the bathtub and was unresponsive.

During the autopsy, forensic pathologist Dana Troxclair found that Brinker had ligature wounds on his neck, suggesting strangulation; that a rib on his right side had been broken and punctured his lung; and that he suffered deep skin hemorrhages and brain swelling. He additionally had injuries suggesting he had been dragged across the floor and bruising on his arms suggestive of defensive wounds.

Dr. Troxclair determined that the cause of death was strangulation and blunt force trauma. She classified the death as a homicide, leading to Nix’s arrest and indictment for second-degree murder.

Investigators found blood spatter on bathroom walls and the vanity mirror and evidence of someone trying to clean it up.

Nix underwent more than seven hours of interrogation by Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives, during which he told numerous lies, according to testimony. He did not testify during the trial, and his attorney argued that the evidence needed to charge his client was lacking.

Neighbors who deputies interviewed described hearing what sounded like “a war zone” in Brinker’s apartment, Detective Anthony Buttone testified. Another neighbor who had observed Nix and Brinker interacting likened it to military “boot camp,” according to testimony.

Denise Nix, his mother, was initially booked with manslaughter and obstruction of justice in connection with the incident. Charges were refused because of insufficient evidence.

The jury that was seated on Monday returned with the unanimous guilty verdict after about one hour of deliberation.

Judge Nancy Miller of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Nix on Feb. 22. Second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Assistant District Attorneys Joshua Vanderhooft and Matthew Whitworth prosecuted the case.

 

 

Metairie man sentenced to 35 years in barroom manslaughter

A Jefferson Parish judge on Thursday (Feb. 10) sentenced Maurice “Marlo” Leach to 35 years in prison for his conviction of killing Michael Shawn Brown in a Metairie lounge.

Leach, 36, was convicted by a jury on Nov. 10 of manslaughter for the May 25, 2019, shooting inside the lounge in the 4500 block of South Interstate 10 Service Road.

During an argument, Leach removed a 9mm semiautomatic pistol from his pants waistband, reached over a peacemaking woman who was separating the men and shot Brown in the face. Brown, 49, fell to the ground beside the bar and died, according to trial evidence. The entire incident was recorded from several angles by the business’s security camera system. Jurors were shown the recordings.

Leach walked out of the bar and was arrested a week later in New Jersey. He also was convicted of obstruction of justice for removing and discarding the pistol he used to shoot Brown in the face.

Judge Stephen Enright of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Leach to 20 years for obstruction of justice and ran it concurrently with the 35-year sentence he gave the man for the manslaughter charge.

Leach faced a mandatory life sentence in prison had he been convicted as charged of second-degree murder. During his trial, he asserted a justifiable homicide defense, in which he asked the jury to acquit him of the killing. The jury returned with a verdict of manslaughter, which carries a maximum punishment of 40 years in prison.

In a plea for leniency on Thursday, Leach asked Judge Enright to give him “time served,” meaning the time he was held in Jefferson Parish Correctional Center awaiting trial. He said he found religion while incarcerated, asserted he had been “rehabilitated,” and asked to not be defined by the mistake of killing Brown.

In a letter read to the court, one of Brown’s daughters said her father was killed as she was in her final semester of college, and that her younger sister was preparing to begin college. She wrote that her father won’t be there for her at her wedding in the fall, and that his death cause emotional and financial damage to the family. She asked the judge to sentence Leach to the maximum time available under law.

Among the evidence he said he considered in preparing for the sentencing, Judge Enright said he reviewed Leach’s statement to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives who arrested him. Leach, the judge said, only had remorse for himself.

Assistant District Attorney Brittany Beckner prosecuted the case.