Tag: homicide

Adam Littleton guilty of murder in I-10 death of Jasilas Wright

Adam Littleton, a Mississippi native, was found criminally responsible on Friday (July 28) for the death of a woman who attempted to escape his vehicle after being kidnapped by jumping from his car on Interstate 10 in Metairie.

Littleton, 25, was convicted as charged of second-degree murder in the June 10, 2015, death of Jasilas Wright, 19. According to testimony at trial, Wright met Littleton in connection with her job as a dancer at Bourbon Street nightclubs.

Littleton was prosecuted under the felony-murder doctrine. Shortly before Wright died, she and Littleton got into an altercation in the French Quarter. Littleton roughed up her to get her into his car, and they drove toward Metairie on I-10. As Wright died during the commission of a second-degree kidnapping, Littleton was found to be legally responsible for her death.

The month before her death, Wright went with Littleton and another woman to Texas for prostitution, a decision she regretted after he initially abandoned her there without money, she told family and friends in New Orleans in emotional phone calls, jurors heard this week in testimony.

Wright sought to distance herself from Littleton and the lifestyle, said Assistant District Attorney Kellie Rish, who prosecuted Littleton with Megan Gorman. “Jasilas was on the highway of human trafficking,” Rish told jurors. “She was looking for her exit.”

Shortly before her death, Littleton and Wright argued on Bourbon Street before he forced her into his car to drive her to Texas. Unwilling to go, Wright leapt from Littleton’s car in the I-10 westbound lanes where the interstate crosses over Veterans Memorial Boulevard. Several vehicles struck her and ran over her body numerous times. Many motorists called 911. But Littleton, who witnessed Wright being struck by cars, continued to Texas.

“What does Adam do? Nothing, because he knows he’s to blame,” Rish told jurors. “He doesn’t stop. He doesn’t call police.”

Wright suffered “massive trauma,” her death caused by “multiple blunt-force trauma,” forensic pathologist Dr. Marianne Eserman testified of her autopsy results.

After collecting personal items from the I-10 lanes and shoulders, the Louisiana State Police identified Wright as the victim, according to testimony. The items included Wright’s cell phone, a key piece of evidence, according to State Police.

Littleton spoke with Wright’s family on the phone, telling them that Wright jumped out of his car. He hung up, and they could never contact him again.

With warrants for his arrest issued in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish, Littleton surrendered to police in Shreveport. In addition to the State Police, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and the New Orleans Police Department were involved in the investigation.

Littleton faces spending the rest of his life in prison, at hard labor and with no chance of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. Judge Lee Faulkner of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Littleton on Aug. 22.

 

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Marrero man sentenced to life in prison for murdering his boss

A Marrero man who murdered his boss at their Kenner workplace was sentenced on Monday (July 24) to a mandatory life sentence in prison.

John Spears, 52, was convicted last month of the second-degree murder of Anthony Tardo on Dec. 4, 2015.

Tardo, 49, was described as a “generous, most caring person” with a “contagious laugh,” his family said in an impact testimony letter that was read aloud in court during the sentencing hearing. Through his “cowardly” act, Spears robbed Tardo’s wife, their three children and his extended family of a life with him, his family said.

Tardo, of Mandeville, was the supervisor at Houston Marine Training Services in the 2500 block of Williams Boulevard, where Spears was employed as an instructor. He was seated at his desk in his office when Spears appeared in the doorway.

Other employees said they heard Tardo say loudly, “What the f—,” before hearing one gunshot. Tardo was struck in the chest and died within a minute, according to trial testimony.

Spears then calmly told co-workers to call 911. He walked outside to the parking lot, where he unloaded his .40-caliber pistol and remained until Kenner Police Department officers arrived. He later pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity, asserting that mental illness and a related blackout prevented him from distinguishing right from wrong.

A Jefferson Parish jury on June 15 deliberated less than 1 ½ hours in rejecting Spears’ insanity defense, finding him guilty as charged.

Judge June Berry Darensburg of the 24th Judicial District Court handed down the mandatory life sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Joshua Vanderhooft and Rhonda Goode-Douglas prosecuted the case.

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Haraquon Degruy pleads guilty in deaths of Metairie father and son

A New Orleans woman was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Friday (June 30), for her role in the deaths of a father and son who were killed in their Metairie home.

Haraquon Degruy, 20, pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter in admitting her guilt as the getaway driver in the April 22, 2015, crime spree that culminated with deaths of David Pence, 56, and his son Nicolas Pence, 25. Manslaughter’s maximum punishment is 40 years in prison.

Degruy had been charged as a principal to second-degree murder. After discussions with the Pence family, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office agreed to the plea. Beth Pence, who lost her husband and son in the crime, provided victim impact testimony, during which she told the judge, “They were ready to prosecute, but we couldn’t do a trial again. It would have been too much.”

The killer, Dexter Allen, 19, was convicted as charged by a Jefferson Parish jury in October of two counts of second-degree murder. In April, Judge Ray Steib of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Allen to spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Allen also was convicted of 19 counts of simple burglary. Degruy was charged with the same offenses and pleaded guilty to those crimes.

Judge Steib, in accepting the plea agreement, sentenced Degruy to the maximum punishment for manslaughter, 40 years, and to two years for each of the 19 counts of simple burglary. Judge Steib ran the sentences concurrently and ordered that Degruy serve the punishment at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Seth Shute and Rachel Africk prosecuted the cases.

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West Bank trio sentenced to life in prison for Marrero murder, attempted murders

Three West Bank men who were convicted earlier this month of a string of shootings that left a man dead and a 2-year-old boy injured were sentenced on Monday to life sentences in prison.

Kevin Hicks, 28, and Kevias Hicks, 26, who are brothers, and Tommie “Tucker” Molette, 24, were convicted June 2 of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder charges.

They killed Deshon Evans, 20, and wounded his 19-year-old friend on Oct. 8, 2013, when the gunmen went to Evans’ home in the 5900 block of Becker Street in Marrero.

The Hickses and Molette received mandatory life sentences for killing Evans and the maximum 50 years for the attempted murder of the 19-year-old man. Evans’ mother and the surviving victim provided impact testimony in which they said they forgave the Hickses and Molette.

Judge Stephen Enright of the 24th Judicial District Court, who presided over the cases, ran the sentences concurrently. The 50-year sentences will be served without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence, Judge Enright said.

The same jury that convicted the trio of those crimes also found Kevias Hicks guilty of two counts of attempted second-degree murder. Those crimes happened July 13, 2013, at an apartment complex in the 2800 block of Mount Kennedy Drive in Marrero.

A woman and her 2-year-old son were walking outside at the complex when gunmen opened fire. A bullet struck the toddler, who survived.

Judge Enright sentenced Kevias Hicks to 50 years in prison for each of the attempted murders. He ran those two sentences concurrent with each other, and then ran that punishment consecutive to the sentences he gave Kevias Hicks for the Becker Street murder.

Kevin Hicks also was charged with the attempted murders, but the jury acquitted him. In a separate trial, Kedrick “KK” Anderson, 24, of Waggaman, was convicted of two counts of attempted second-degree murder and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

The Mount Kennedy shooting stemmed from an ongoing dispute between the Hickses and the father of the 2-year-old boy.

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

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Marrero man guilty of murdering boss at Kenner workplace

A Jefferson Parish jury deliberated just over one hour Thursday night (June 15), rejecting a Marrero man’s insanity defense and convicting him as charged of murdering his supervisor at their workplace in Kenner.

John Spears, 52, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison for fatally shooting Anthony Tardo, 49, of Mandeville, on Dec. 4, 2015.

About 3:30 p.m., employees at Houston Marine Training Services, in the 2500 block of Williams Boulevard, heard Tardo yell “What the f—?” and then heard a gunshot. Spears stood in the entrance to Tardo’s office and fired one .40-caliber bullet into his boss’s chest. Tardo died in about a minute.

Spears calmly told his coworkers to call 911. He then walked out front door into the parking lot, where he ejected the magazine from his pistol and placed it atop his car. He waited for the Kenner Police Department to arrive.

Spears pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. His attorneys argued that he has a history of mental illness and that he suffered a delusional psychotic episode when he shot Tardo. Spears further asserted he blacked out

Spears and Tardo had been co-workers about 1 ½ years before the homicide. Tardo, a husband and father, was the site supervisor at the Kenner Houston Marine location, which assisted people in obtaining licenses to work offshore industries. Spears was an instructor in dynamic positioning, using a simulator to train students in keeping a vessel afloat stable.

After killing Tardo, Spears declined to give detectives a statement in explaining why he shot his supervisor. However, in phone calls he made to his wife from the parish jail, he accused Tardo of repeatedly “aggravating” him. He also asked his wife to find his medical records to support his contention of mental illness. Jurors heard recordings of those phone calls.

One co-worker told detectives that he and Spears crossed paths at the business earlier that day, and that Spears mentioned he was going to shoot co-workers. The co-worker thought Spears was joking. Otherwise, none of the employees noted anything overtly amiss between Spears and Tardo.

The jury of eight women and four men delivered its verdict about 9:15 p.m., Thursday. Judge June Berry Darensburg of the 24th Judicial District is scheduled to sentence Spears on July 24.

Assistant District Attorneys Joshua Vanderhooft and Rhonda Goode-Douglas prosecuted the case.

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West Bank men sentenced for convictions in Marrero homicides

Two West Bank men who were convicted last month of killing a pair of half-brothers during an ambush-style shooting on a Marrero residential street were sentenced Wednesday (June 7).

Jordan Hicks, 24, of Westwego, was sentenced to two mandatory life sentences in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Ernest Payne Jr., 28, of Marrero, was sentenced to two 40-year sentences, for his conviction of two counts of manslaughter. Forty years is the maximum punishment for the offense.

They killed Martin “Marty” Harry, 19, and Delanta “Dig” McCall, 21, on Aug. 12, 2012.

Harry, McCall and their cousin were in Harry’s car in the 1600 block of Julie Street, in Marrero’s Acre Road public housing development, when gunmen opened fire.

A Jefferson Parish jury returned guilty verdicts on May 19. Hicks was convicted as charged of two counts of second-degree murder. Payne also was charged with murder, but the jury returned with the manslaughter verdicts.

After denying defense motions for new trials and hearing victim impact testimony from three family members, 24th Judicial District Court Judge Stephen Grefer handed down the sentences. He ran both sentences concurrently.

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Africk and Seth Shute prosecuted the case.

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West Bank trio convicted of Marrero murder, shooting that injured 2-year-old boy

After hearing four days of testimony, a Jefferson Parish jury returned with guilty verdicts Friday evening (June 2), convicting three West Bank men for their involvement in a chain of deadly shootings in 2013, including one in which a 2-year-old boy was severely injured.

Kevin Hicks, 28, and Kevias Hicks, 26, who are brothers, and Tommie “Tucker” Molette, 24, were convicted as charged of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder charges, for shooting two men in a Marrero home on Oct. 8, 2013.

Kevias Hicks separately was convicted as charged of two counts of attempted second-degree murder charges, for a retaliatory ambush-style shooting in a Marrero apartment complex alley on July 13, 2013, in which a woman and her 2-year-old son were caught in the crossfire. Kevin Hicks was acquitted of those charges.

The murder happened inside a small room of a home in the 5900 block of Becker Street. Deshon Evans, 20, who lived at the house, and a 19-year-old friend were recording music when the Hickses and Molette opened fire.

Evans was shot six times, including twice in the head, and died sitting in his chair. His friend was shot four times but survived to identify the gunmen.

In the other shooting, Kevias Hicks and his half-brother Kedrick “KK” Anderson, opened fire at an apartment complex in the 2800 block of Mount Kennedy Drive. One of the bullets struck a 2-year-old boy in the chest and exited his back.

His mother carried him to safety but, fearing retaliation, was initially hesitant to identify the shooters. Months later, she later relented and identified the Hickses and Anderson as the shooters, but she recanted during the trial on the identification of Kevin Hicks.

Anderson, 24, of Waggaman, was tried for the crimes separately in December. He was convicted as charged of two attempted second-degree murder counts. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Jan. 17.

The Mount Kennedy shooting was part of a series of violent crimes in which the Hickses and others were targeting Antione Payne – who is the father of the wounded 2-year-old boy.

In 2010, Payne and another man, Richshawn Williams, who was associated with the Hickses, were charged with an armed robbery. Payne pleaded guilty as an amended charge of accessory after the fact to armed robbery and received a two-year sentence, while Williams received a 20-year sentence for his guilty plea.

The disparity led to suspicions that Payne cooperated with authorities in exchange for favorable treatment. That made him a target on the streets, homicide detective Sgt. Gary Barteet of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office testified.

In the first known incident, in June 2013, Payne was shot at but not wounded while he was in a car at Ames and Lapalco boulevards in Marrero.

Days later, Kevias Hicks and Anderson believed they were targeting Payne at the Mount Kennedy complex. In fact, they mistakenly shot at Payne’s brother, whom he resembled. That’s when the toddler was wounded.

Three days after the Mount Kennedy shooting, on July 16, 2013, Payne encountered the Hickses, Anderson and another man as they were in separate cars crossing the Crescent City Connection to the West Bank.

Payne and occupants of the other car exchanged gunfire during the rolling shoot-out, during which Kevias Hicks was shot in the leg and a stray bullet struck a nearby motel adjacent to the elevated Westbank Expressway. Kevias Hicks was left at a New Orleans hospital, while Kevin Hicks secreted away their guns.

Then, on Aug. 12, 2013, Payne fired three bullets from a distance at the mother of Anderson’s children, as she drove in the 900 block of Beechgrove Boulevard in Bridge City. The woman’s 1-year-old son was in the car with her. No one was injured. For that shooting, Payne, 27, pleaded guilty in 2015 to aggravated assault with a firearm and received two years in prison to be followed by three years of active probation.

Analyzing spent bullet casings recovered from the crime scenes, Sheriff’s Office firearms examiner Jené Rauch determined that Kevias Hicks’ 9mm semiautomatic pistol was used in the Mount Kennedy and elevated expressway shootings and the Becker Street murder.

The group’s ongoing dispute with Payne did not factor into the Becker Street shooting. In that incident, the Hickses and Molette were seeking to kill someone else, Barteet determined. That targeted person was not at the residence, however.

The jury of seven women and five men, which was selected last week and returned to court Tuesday to begin the trial’s testimony phase, deliberated about 55 minutes in reaching its verdict.

Second-degree murder carries a punishment of mandatory life in prison with no probation, parole or suspension of sentence. Attempted second-degree murder carries a punishment of 10 years up to 50 years in prison.

Judge Stephen Enright of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence the trio on June 15.

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

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West Bank men convicted in Marrero double homicide

Two West Bank men were convicted Friday night (May 19) of killing a pair of half-brothers, who were gunned down in an ambush as they sat in a car on a residential Marrero street.

Jordan Hicks, 24, of Westwego, was convicted as charged of two counts of second-degree murder. Ernest Payne Jr., 28, of Marrero, was convicted of two counts of manslaughter, a responsive verdict.

They were convicted in the Aug. 12, 2012, deaths of Martin “Marty” Harry, 19, and Delanta “Dig” McCall, 21.

The victims were shot while in Harry’s 2003 Nissan Maxima, which Harry stopped in the 1600 block of Julie Street at Second Zion Street, in Marrero’s Acre Road public housing development.

According to witness testimony, gunmen in Julie Street behind Harry’s car opened fire, from near Payne’s white pickup truck. A bullet struck McCall in the left side of his head, killing him where he sat in the front passenger seat. Bullets struck driver Harry in the top of his head and the back of his neck, severing his spinal cord. He was pronounced dead later at a hospital.

Their cousin was in the back seat, sitting behind McCall. He was able to flee the car and later identified Hicks as the gunman who approached the car from the rear driver’s side. The cousin also identified Payne as being at the scene.

Beside Harry was an AK-47 rifle, and McCall had a pistol. Evidence showed the men legally purchased the firearms, which they fired at a gun range hours before they were killed. Deputies found three short videos of their being at the gun range on McCall’s cell phone, and they recovered paper targets in the trunk of Harry’s car.

Although numerous people were outside and near the shooting scene, none was voluntarily forthcoming with information, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Travis Eserman testified. He said residents feared retaliation if they were seen speaking with deputies.

The jury of five women and seven men deliberated four hours. Judge Stephen Grefer of the 24th Judicial District Court scheduled the sentencing for June 7.

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Africk and Seth Shute prosecuted the case.

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Gary Francois sentenced to life for Xmas Eve Oakwood Center mall murder

Gary Francois was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday (May 18), for killing a man in the Oakwood Center mall amid throngs of last-minute Christmas Eve shoppers in 2014.

Francois, 28, of Marrero, received the sentence for his March 23 conviction of the second-degree murder of James Vaughn, 24, of Harvey.

Vaughn had just completed a transaction at an athletic shoe store when Francois, who was waiting and watching from the business’s entrance, quickly walked inside, pulled a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol from his pants and opened fire.

The gunfire triggered pandemonium among shoppers, who ran for cover or fled the mall screaming.

Francois shot Vaughn four times. The first two bullets struck him in the back and hand. Francois then stood over the injured man and shot him twice more in the face.

Francois then fled the mall through a woman’s apparel store. Aided by an off-duty New Orleans policeman who witnessed much of the shooting, Jefferson Parish deputies and Gretna officers pursued Francois through adjacent residential neighborhoods before capturing him.

The Jefferson Parish jury rejected Francois’ insanity defense, finding he knew the difference between right and wrong when he killed Vaughn.

Vaughn’s mother, Kisha Vaughn, told the court in impact testimony Thursday that the youngest of her four children was at the mall purchasing her Christmas gift when he was killed.

“This was a senseless, selfish act. It has really shattered my life,” Ms. Vaughn testified.

After rejecting post-trial defense motions and hearing impact testimony from Vaughn’s mother and Francois’ mother, who apologized to Vaughn’s family, 24th Judicial District Court Judge Lee Faulkner handed down the sentence.

Life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence is the mandatory punishment for the charge under Louisiana law.

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Africk and Lynn Schiffman prosecuted the case.

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Dexter Allen sentenced to life without parole in killing David Pence, son Nicolas in their Metairie home

Dexter Allen of New Orleans, convicted by a Jefferson Parish jury of brutally executing a father and son in their Metairie home while on an auto burglary spree in a residential neighborhood two years ago, was sentenced on Friday (April 21) to  life in prison without parole.

Allen, 19, snuck into the Pence family home just before midnight on April 22, 2015, killing David Pence, 56, and his son Nicholas Pence, 25, with blasts from a stolen shotgun. Allen, who lived with his mother in New Orleans at the time, traveled to Metairie in sports-utility vehicle that he allegedly carjacked earlier that day in Orleans Parish.

Allen targeted a car parked in the Pence driveway. From there, Allen entered the home, intending to steal a purse set on the kitchen counter, which he could see from outside. David Pence was shot as he slept in a recliner, and Nicholas Pence was shot as he rushed into the living room after hearing the shotgun blasts.

A Jefferson Parish jury deliberated about two hours on Oct. 17, 2016, in finding Allen guilty as charged of two counts of second-degree murder and 19 counts of simple burglary. The latter convictions were for breaking into cars.

Mandatory life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence is the statutory punishment for second-degree murder under Louisiana law. However, because he was under age 18 at the time he killed the Pences, Allen could not receive a “mandatory” life sentence in prison, in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2012 decision, Miller vs. Alabama.

As such, Judge Raymond Steib of the 24th Judicial District Court, presiding over the case, had the discretion to sentence Allen to life in prison either without or with parole. The latter sentence would allow Allen to apply for parole after serving 35 years of his sentence, provided certain criteria are met.

Judge Steib heard impact testimony during a sentencing hearing on Thursday, from witnesses that included the Pence family, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office detective who led the investigation and from Allen’s mother.

The Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office argued that Allen deserved life in prison without parole. The defense argued for parole eligibility.

Noting the crimes Allen committed were “heinous,” an emotional Judge Steib opted to sentence Allen to life in prison without parole and two years for each of the 19 simple burglary counts.

“At no time has this court seen Mr. Allen show any emotion other than anger. There has been no remorse,” Judge Steib said.

Allen also is charged in New Orleans with attempted second-degree murder, illegal possession of stolen things, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and armed robbery with a firearm. He is scheduled to stand trial on those charges in May in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.

Allen’s former girlfriend, Haraquon Degruy, 20, of New Orleans, is charged with two counts of being a principal to second-degree murder and 19 counts of simple burglary. Her trial is set for May in Judge Steib’s court.

Assistant District Attorneys Seth Shute and Rachel Africk prosecuted the case.

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