Tag: homicide

Teddy Chester convicted anew of murdering Kenner cabbie John Adams in 1995

A Jefferson Parish jury on Monday night (Nov. 5) found Teddy Chester guilty of killing a cab driver in East Jefferson 23 years ago, bringing to two the number of times he has been convicted of the same crime.

Chester, 40, is guilty as charged of second-degree murder for the Dec. 27, 1995 killing of John Adams, 34, who was a driver for a Kenner-based taxi cab company. He was killed during a botched armed robbery that Chester and co-defendant Elbert Ratcliff planned, prosecutors argued in the trial that began last week.

“This is not a planned murder,” Assistant District Attorney Douglas Rushton told jurors in closing argument Monday. “This is a planned armed robbery during which the homicide occurred.”

“This was a senseless killing, a senseless murder of John Adams,” Assistant District Attorney Lynn Schiffman told jurors Monday. “He was working his job, just like everybody else does every day.”

Mr. Adams was shot once in the back of his head while in the driver’s seat of his taxi, after he responded to a 4 a.m. dispatch to the 700 block of Calhoun Street, according to trial testimony. The area of East Jefferson near River Ridge is known among local law enforcement for its narcotics distribution activities and is called “The Dump.”

About two hours after the dispatch, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies who responded to a report about an abandoned vehicle found Mr. Adams’ body in the driver’s seat. The cab’s engine was still running, and the vehicle itself had left the roadway. The cab’s contents were strewn about inside and outside the vehicle, according to testimony. Deputies still found cash on Mr. Adams’ body, which was indicative of a botched armed robbery.

Detectives linked Ratcliff, then 25, to the murder after finding his thumb prints on two of Mr. Adams’ business cards, one inside the car and one outside, according to testimony. Questioned by Detective Ralph Sacks, Ratcliff named Chester as his cohort and the shooter, according to testimony.

During his trial in 1997, Ratcliff was convicted as charged of second-degree murder for his role in the crime. He is serving a life sentence in state prison.

After arresting Chester, detectives found in his apartment a cap and jeans with blood on them. The DNA profile obtained from the cap was consistent with a mixture of Mr. Adams and Mr. Chester, according to testimony. DNA analysts were unable to obtain a genetic profile from the blood on jeans.

During his interrogation 23 years ago, Chester admitted to Detective Sacks that he was in the cab, but only because he was trying to sell fake narcotics. He blamed Ratcliff for killing Mr. Adams, although he admitted to his then-girlfriend that he pointed the pistol to the back of the cabbie’s head when it accidentally fired, according to testimony.

In 1997, Chester was convicted as charged of first-degree murder and was sentenced to death for the crime. However, in June 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Susie Morgan of the Eastern District of Louisiana, in presiding over Chester’s federal habeas corpus proceedings, ordered a new trial. She ruled that Chester’s original trial attorney committed several errors that deprived him of his constitutional right to effective representation.

Instead of appealing Judge Morgan’s ruling, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office opted to retry Chester, albeit on a charge of second-degree murder. The offense carries a punishment of life in prison without probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Chester, who did not testify, continued to maintain his innocence and accused Ratcliff of being the killer. The Jefferson Parish jury deliberated about 1 ½ hours before returning with its unanimous verdict.

Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court set Chester’s sentencing for 9:30 a.m., on Nov. 15.

(UPDATE: Judge Kovach on Nov. 15 granted Chester’s attorneys’ request to continue the sentencing. The new sentencing date is Dec. 12).

Assistant District Attorneys Douglas Rushton and Lynn Schiffman prosecuted the latest case.

Marrero man sentenced to two life sentences plus 50 years in Harvey murders, attempted murder

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (Sept. 12), sentenced Jacobie Green to back-to-back life sentences plus another 50 years in prison for his conviction of participating in a Father’s Day 2015 shooting in Harvey that left two men dead and a third man wounded.

Green, 26, of Marrero, was convicted as charged Aug. 3, of two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted second-degree murder. The jury found he was a gunman in the June 21, 2015 shooting at an Apache Drive apartment in which Johnnel Ovide, 23, and Trammell Marshall, 21, were killed and a then-23-year-old man surviving numerous gunshot wounds, including one Green fired into his face.

Before he died, Marshall identified “Cobie” as a gunman, as did the surviving victim, whom Green shot in the face, according to trial testimony.

Ovide’s mother and Marshall’s mother each provided written statements into the court in lieu of impact testimony, which were read aloud by a prosecutor.

Marshall’s mother noted how Green and her son had been friends. “You stole a life from someone who trusted you,” she wrote. “He opened the door not knowing your face would be the last face he would see.”

Ovide’s mother wrote, “I don’t go a day without thinking about my son. The pain is unimaginable.”

After denying a defense motion for a new trial and hearing a prosecutor read the impact testimony statements, Judge Stephen Grefer of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Green to two life sentences, one for each of the murders, and the maximum 50 years for the attempted murder.

Judge Grefer then ordered that the sentences be served consecutively, noting that “two lives were taken and a third life was almost taken.”

Green is the second man to be sentenced to prison in connection with the incident. In February, Archie Hulbert III, 34, of Algiers, received a seven-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to perjury for lying to a Jefferson Parish grand jury in an attempt to help Green avoid prosecution. Two codefendants await their trials in connection with the shooting.

Assistant District Attorneys Matt Clauss and Laura Schneidau prosecuted the case.

 

Harvey man sentenced to life plus 40 years for Woodmere murder, attempted murder

A Jefferson Parish judge on Friday (Aug. 31) sentenced Ivory Franklin II to a mandatory life sentence plus 40 years in prison, for his conviction of shooting an 18-year-old acquaintance in the back of his head as they walked along a Harvey drainage canal bank.

Franklin, 21, of Harvey, was convicted of second-degree murder in June of killing Reginald Black. He also was convicted as charged of attempted second-degree murder for trying to kill Black’s 15-year-old nephew, for which Franklin received the 40-year sentence.

After denying defense post-verdict motions and hearing impact testimony from Black’s mother, Judge Donnie Rowan of the 24th Judicial District Court ran the 40-year sentence consecutively to the life sentence.

Judge Rowan noted that after killing Black, Franklin fired indiscriminately at the fleeing 15-year-old without regard for the residents who lived nearby. “If you could, you would have taken out both parties in this case,” Judge Rowan said.

About 3 a.m., on May 5, 2016, the trio was walking along the canal bank behind homes on Windmere Court, just south of Post Street in the Woodmere subdivision, when Franklin shot Black with a revolver. Black, whom Franklin lured from his home that morning, never saw it coming, according to trial testimony.

Franklin then shot at the 15-year-old witness, who crossed through the canal water and to the first house he saw with lights on, according to trial evidence. The resident of that house called 911.

Franklin denied being the shooter and blamed the 15-year-old, whom he accused of horseplay with the pistol when it fired, striking Black. A Jefferson Parish jury rejected the defense assertion and convicted Franklin on June 9.

In a letter written to the court, Black’s mother noted that Franklin “was cold and calculated in his deed,” and that he “is the lowest of predator and should not participate in society again.”

Assistant District Attorneys Andrew DeCoste and Lynn Schiffman prosecuted the case.

Marrero man convicted in Harvey double-murder, attempted murder

A Jefferson Parish jury found Jacobie “Cobie” Green guilty Friday night (Aug. 3) of opening fire in a Harvey apartment on Father’s Day 2015, killing two men and critically wounding a third man.

Green, 26, who lived in Marrero at the time, was convicted as charged of two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted second-degree murder.

Johnnel Ovide, 23, and Trammell Marshall, 21, were killed. A then 23-year-old man survived multiple gunshot wounds, including one to his face that Green fired, according to testimony presented during the four-day trial.

The shooting happened shortly before 10:30 p.m., on June 21, 2015, in the 1600 block of Apache Drive. Green and the victims were among the visitors at an apartment. The man who lived in the apartment escaped by diving head-first through the glass of a window, according to testimony.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Deputy Christian Dabdoub, the first officer to arrive, surveyed and secured the crime scene, finding victims outside the apartment, he testified. “It was chaos inside,” he testified of the overturned furniture and the bullet casings. “There was blood everywhere.”

He found the surviving victim in the apartment door threshold, bleeding profusely and asking for water. He testified he asked the victim who shot him. “He muttered to me, ‘Cobie, from Betty Street,’” Dabdoub testified.

In the grass nearby, Trammell lay writhing in pain. “I asked him, ‘Who did this to you?’ He told me, ‘Cobie, from the Marrero projects,’” Dabdoub testified.

Ovide died at the scene. Trammell died later at a hospital, according to testimony.

The jury deliberated just over an hour before delivering its verdict at 10:30 p.m., Friday. Judge Stephen Grefer of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Green on Sept. 12.

Two defendants await their trials in connection with the crimes. Separately, Archie Hulbert III, 34, of Algiers, pleaded guilty Feb. 2, to perjury, for lying to a Jefferson Parish grand jury in an attempt to help Green. In accepting the plea, Judge Grefer sentenced Hulbert to seven years in prison.

Assistant District Attorneys Matt Clauss and Laura Schneidau prosecuted the case.

Houma man sentenced to life plus 40 years for killing Slidell man, burning his SUV

A Jefferson Parish judge on Thursday (June 28) sentenced Terrance Calloway of Houma to life in prison plus 40 years, for his conviction of killing a Slidell man in Harvey during a robbery.

Judge Michael Mentz of the 24th Judicial District Court also found Calloway in direct contempt of court and sentenced him to three months in jail, after Calloway repeatedly refused to obey the judge’s orders to stand to receive his sentence.

Calloway, 30, shot Cordaryle Robert in the face on June 25, 2016, and left him to die in drainage ditch in the 3600 block of Peters Road. Calloway then drove Robert’s 2003 Cadillac Escalade’s to a sugarcane field near Thibodaux, where he removed the tires and rims, doused the interior with gasoline and ignited it.

A Jefferson Parish jury on June 13 found Calloway guilty as charged of second-degree murder for killing Robert and obstruction of justice for taking and burning Robert’s vehicle in a sugarcane field near Thibodaux.

The father of four children, Robert was described in impact testimony as being a hard-working man who loved cars and horses – he belongs to a riding club.

“Cordaryle was a warm-hearted young man who worked to provide for his family,” his fiancé Jaleesa Lewis wrote to the court.

Robert was lured into the crime by Calloway’s wife, Dana Lemar, 25, also of Houma. She pleaded guilty on April 16 to manslaughter and received a 25-year prison sentence for her role in the crimes.

Pursuant to her plea agreement, Lemar testified that she met Robert through Facebook and eventually lured him to Boomtown Casino with a plan to rob him, having seen photos of with cash and expensive auto rims on his SUV, according to trial evidence.

In following Calloway’s plan, Lemar directed Robert to the 3600 block of Peters Road, where Robert was led to believe that Lemar’s aunt’s vehicle had broken down.

As Robert attempted to offer mechanical assistance, Calloway appeared from the darkness and shot him. Lemar testified she was unaware Calloway would kill Robert. A passing motorist spotted Robert’s body in the ditch four days later, according to trial evidence.

After denying defense motions for a new trial and post-verdict judgment of acquittal on Thursday, Judge Mentz sentenced Calloway to the mandatory life sentence for the murder and 40 years for the obstruction of justice. Judge Mentz ran the sentences consecutive.

After repeatedly refusing to stand for receive his sentence, Calloway stood only after his sister had an outburst in the audience. Noting that the woman spoke out in court and used foul language, Judge Mentz held the woman in direct contempt of court and ordered her to pay a $200 fine.

Assistant District Attorneys Douglas Rushton and Lindsay Truhe prosecuted the case.

Houma man convicted of killing Slidell man in Harvey, burning victim’s SUV in Lafourche Parish

A Jefferson Parish jury decided Wednesday evening (June 13) that Terrance Calloway is guilty of killing Cordaryle Robert, the Slidell man who was lured into a robbery by Calloway’s wife before he was shot in the face and left in a roadside drainage ditch in Harvey.

Calloway, 30, of Houma, was convicted as charged of the second-degree murder of Robert, 27, who was killed on June 25, 2016. Calloway also was convicted of obstruction of justice, for taking Robert’s 2003 Cadillac Escalade from the murder scene and burning it in Lafourche Parish.

Calloway’s wife, Dana Lemar, 25, also of Houma, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received a 25-year prison sentence on April 16 in exchange for her cooperation. She testified she was unaware that her husband was going to kill Robert. “Our intention was to set him up and rob him,” Lemar testified Tuesday.

“Don’t let him walk out,” Assistant District Attorney Douglas Rushton, who prosecuted with Lindsay Truhe, told jurors in closing argument. “He committed that murder. He pulled the trigger.”

Robert unwittingly became a victim after communicating with Lemar through Facebook, according to evidence presented at trial. After exchanging messages, Robert met Lemar at Boomtown Casino, on Peters Road in Harvey.

Lemar testified that she and Calloway waited outside the casino for Robert to arrive. When he did, she and Robert drove in his vehicle around New Orleans, stopping twice in Gentilly. In following a plan that Calloway conceived, she told Robert she had to return to Boomtown because her aunt’s vehicle had broken down, she testified.

In the 3600 block of Peters Road, just north of the casino, they spotted Lemar’s vehicle parked on the shoulder with its hood up, she testified. Robert pulled his vehicle up to Lemar’s vehicle, got out and checked under her hood. That’s when Lemar said she heard the first of three gunshots and saw Robert’s body fall into the drainage ditch.

Calloway drove away in Robert’s vehicle while she drove her vehicle, first to St. Charles Parish where they purchased a gasoline can and gasoline. They eventually drove to a sugarcane field east of Thibodaux. There, Calloway removed the tires and rims from Robert’s vehicle, doused the interior with gas and set it on fire, Lemar testified.

The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office began an investigation into the burned vehicle that same morning. Later, the Slidell Police Department opened a missing persons investigation in connection with Robert’s disappearance.

Four days after Robert was killed, a passer-by spotted his decomposing body in the drainage ditch. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office began the homicide investigation.

By that point, Lafourche Parish detectives already identified Robert’s vehicle and, with the help of the Houma Police Department, uncovered evidence linking Calloway and Lemar to the vehicle, according to trial testimony.

Calloway and Lemar were located in their mobile home in a Houma trailer park on the day Robert’s body was located. Inside the trailer, detectives found Robert’s property, including a car audio amplifier and a floor jack, according to testimony. Calloway and Lemar were arrested for Robert’s homicide that day.

The JPSO later found Calloway’s DNA on a shirt at Robert’s burned vehicle, according to trial evidence.

Using witness statements, cell phone data, and the Automated License Plate Reader system, authorities determined that Robert was killed about 3:15 a.m., JPSO Detective Donald Zanotelli testified.

The data also corroborated Lemar’s testimony of what transpired that morning, providing detectives with a timeline that shows the suspects’ travels through Gentilly and between Harvey and their home in Houma, according to a multimedia presentation prosecutors showed to jurors.

Calloway denied involvement in the crime. His attorney told jurors that Lemar lied to detectives in implicating Calloway.

The Jefferson Parish jury that was seated on Monday deliberated about 40 minutes. Judge Michael Mentz of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Calloway on June 26.

Assistant District Attorneys Douglas Rushton and Lindsay Truhe prosecuted the case.

Harvey man convicted of teen’s Woodmere murder

A Jefferson Parish jury decided Friday night (June 8) that Ivory Franklin II killed a teen as they walked along a Harvey drainage canal two years ago, firing a bullet into the back of the victim’s head before unleashing more bullets on the 15-year-old witness who ran through the murky water as he fled for his life.

Franklin, 20, of Harvey, was convicted as charged of the second-degree murder of Reginald Black, 18, who died in the early morning hours of May 5, 2016. Franklin, who was 18 years old at the time of the crime, also was convicted of the attempted second-degree murder of the 15-year-old, who was Black’s nephew and was able to escape without physical injury.

Just before 3 a.m., on the day of the homicide, the three teens were walking on the concrete embankment of the canal behind homes on Windmere Court, just south of Post Street in Harvey’s Woodmere subdivision. Black walked ahead of Franklin and didn’t see his death coming, according to evidence presented during the trial. Armed with a revolver, Franklin fired a bullet into the back of Black’s head.

“He didn’t deserve to die at age 18,” Assistant District Attorney Andrew DeCoste, who prosecuted Franklin with Lynn Schiffman, told jurors. “He didn’t deserve to be killed by this man (Franklin), who he thought was his friend. He didn’t deserve to die on a canal bank.”

After seeing the uncle whom he considered a brother shot dead, the 15-year-old boy ran, plunging into the canal to make his escape and running to the first home he saw that had lights on. He banged on the front door, pleading with the resident inside for help.

The resident refused to open the door but called 911, according to trial testimony. The boy then ran to the first Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy to arrive and, crying, rushed the officer to Black’s body, according to testimony. The revolver Franklin used has not been recovered.

They found Black lying face-down on the sloped concrete surface, his blood flowing from his head down the embankment to the canal water. Deputies later discovered a strike mark in the concrete embankment, left from one of the bullets that Franklin fired at the 15-year-old as he ran away, according to trial evidence.

In testimony Friday, Franklin denied killing Black and pointed blame to the 15-year-old, whom he said was “hyper” after smoking marijuana and involved in horseplay with a pistol. Franklin said the boy pointed the pistol at his head, and when he swatted it away, it fired, leading to Black’s death.

The Jefferson Parish jury deliberated approximately two hours Friday before delivering its verdict.

Judge Donnie Rowan of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Franklin to a mandatory life sentence in prison on Aug. 3.

Assistant District Attorneys Andrew DeCoste and Lynn Schiffman prosecuted the case.

Avondale man sentenced to life in prison for Harvey murder

An Avondale man was sentenced Monday (May 14) to life in prison for his convictions stemming a Harvey shooting that left one man dead and another injured.

Javontae “Tae” Simmons, 24, was convicted as charged on May 4 of second-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder.

All charges stem from an April 7, 2015, shooting in 3700 block of Clover Lane, in Harvey’s Woodmere subdivision. Stacy Johnson Jr., 20, was shot several times and died at the scene. A second man was shot in the buttocks as he ran away. A third man, who was the intended target of the shooting, escaped uninjured.

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

After denying defense motions for a post-verdict judgment of acquittal and a motion for new trial, in addition to the mandatory life sentence for the murder conviction, Judge Henry Sullivan of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Simmons to 30 years for the conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and 50 years for each of the two convictions of attempted second-degree murder. Judge Sullivan ran the sentences concurrently.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Doug Freese prosecuted the case.

Avondale man convicted of Harvey murder, attempted murders

An Avondale man was convicted Thursday night (May 3), in connection with a shooting that left one man dead and a second man injured.

Javontae “Tae” Simmons, 24, was convicted as charged of second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder.

The shooting occurred about 12:45 a.m., on April 7, 2015, in the 3700 block of Clover Lane, in Harvey’s Woodmere subdivision.

Stacy Johnson Jr., 20, was shot several times and died at the scene. Another man was struck in the buttocks by a bullet. A third man, the intended target in the crime, was not injured, according to evidence presented in the three-day trial.

The jury deliberated just over 1 ½ hours before returning with its verdicts at 8:40 p.m. Judge Henry Sullivan of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Simmons on May 14.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Doug Freese prosecuted the case.

Kenner man sentenced to life plus 40 years in murder and dismemberment case

 

Convicted of killing his rival in a Kenner love triangle before dismembering the slain man’s body and discarding the parts in a River Parishes swamp, Viusqui J. Perez-Espinosa was sentenced Thursday (April 26) to spend the rest of his life in prison plus 40 years.

Perez, 45, a Cuban national whose work history included that of a butcher, was convicted as charged last month of the second-degree murder of Alexis Portales-Lara on Nov. 11, 2016. Portales was murdered in the Baylor Place apartment he shared with his lover, a woman who also is a Cuban national and who previously was romantically involved with Perez.

According to trial testimony, Perez hoped to rekindle the relationship, and Portales was in the way.

On the day after he killed Portales, Perez disarticulated the body, stuffed the remains in garbage bags and drove to St. John the Baptist Parish, where he dumped the bags into the swamp near the Reserve Canal off Interstate 10.

For his efforts to conceal his crime, Perez also was convicted as charged of obstruction of justice and was sentenced Thursday to the maximum 40 years in prison.

Portales, a Honduran national, moved to East Jefferson to be close to his young daughter, according to trial evidence.

Portales’ ex-wife provided a statement to the court in lieu of live impact testimony on Thursday, expressing the emotional and financial hardships she and their 5-year-old daughter suffer because of his death.

“With tears in her eyes, she tells me, ‘Mommy, I miss my daddy,’” the mother wrote.

Portales and Perez worked together for a scaffold company in Norco. Portales moved in with Perez’s ex-girlfriend in Kenner. She later allowed Perez to temporarily move in with them after his relationship with another woman ended, according to evidence presented to the jury.

Portales was last seen alive on the evening of Nov. 11, 2016. The Kenner Police Department initially investigated the matter as a missing person’s complaint and found blood in the Baylor Place apartment. That blood was later determined to be Portales’, according to evidence presented during the trial.

Then, on Dec. 29, 2016, a fisherman found a right arm in the Reserve Canal. The following month, pipeline workers who were dredging the canal found the legs and torso. The remains were determined to be Portales, whose head and left arm have not been located.

At trial, the jury heard testimony about Perez sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend in the apartment after Portales went to work. Perez, who denies assaulting the woman, asserted he was defending himself from Portales’ attack. During the scuffle, Perez asserted in trial testimony, Portales stabbed himself in the neck and caused his own death.

Perez testified that the body was too heavy for him to move, so he cut it into pieces. His attorney told jurors that he panicked.

At the end of a six-day trial, a Jefferson Parish jury on March 26 convicted Perez as charged of second-degree murder and obstruction of justice.

After denying defense motions for a new trial and post-verdict judgment of acquittal on Thursday, Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court handed down the sentences, which she ran consecutively.

Judge Kovach noted, “I can think of no worse obstruction of justice than that which occurred in this case.”

Assistant District Attorneys Kellie Rish and Richard Olivier prosecuted the case.