Tag: jefferson parish sheriff’s office

Jerman Neveaux pleads guilty, gets life for murdering JPSO Detective David Michel Jr.

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (April 24) sentenced Jerman Neveaux to spend the rest of his life in prison, after Neveaux pleaded guilty to murdering Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Detective David Michel Jr. during an investigative stop in Harvey eight years ago.

Neveaux, 27, of New Orleans, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for avoiding a possible first-degree murder conviction and death sentence had his case gone to trial. His trial was scheduled to begin next week.

Detective Michel, assigned to the Sheriff’s Office Project Star Team, was driving to meet fellow officers for lunch on June 22, 2016, when he spotted Neveaux, then age 19, suspiciously following a man who was walking on Manhattan Boulevard during his lunch break.

Detective Michel stopped Neveaux at Manhattan Boulevard and Ascot Road. A physical altercation followed, and Neveaux shot Detective Michel three times in the back and fled. Detective Michel called out on the police radio, “I’m shot.” He died at a hospital later that day.

Just three weeks before he killed Detective Michel, Neveaux pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of illegal possession of stolen things in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, after police found he had a stolen pistol. He received probation for the misdemeanor conviction.

Then, on June 22, 2016, Neveaux was in possession of a stolen .38-caliber revolver when Detective Michel stopped him. He used that pistol to murder Detective Michel.

Evidence would have been presented during the trial that would have allowed the jury to conclude that Neveaux was going to use that pistol to commit an armed robbery of a pedestrian when he encountered Detective Michel.

Ascot Road has since been renamed Det. David Michel Jr. Drive.

On Wednesday, Judge June Berry Darensburg of the 24th Judicial District Court accepted Neveaux’s plea and sentenced him to life in prison without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

Former Jefferson Parish Assistant District Attorney Doug Freese, now Chief of the Criminal Division for District Attorney Collin Sims’ Office, and Jefferson Parish Assistant District Attorneys Kristen Landrieu and Darren Allemand prosecuted the case.

Ronald Newton convicted of the first-degree murder of Earl Ellsworth in Metairie

A Jefferson Parish jury on Tuesday night (March 19) convicted Ronald Newton of a first-degree murder he committed almost three hours after learning his girlfriend and mother were involved in a senseless brawl outside his Marrero home.

Newton, 30, shot and killed Earl Ellsworth, 23, as he and two friends hid in the bathroom of a Metairie apartment on the evening of Aug. 25, 2022.

The killing was the end result of an argument between women earlier that day and spilled over into social media. It escalated to a brawl between four women in the street and on the lawn in front of Newton’s home in the 6400 block of Millender Drive in Marrero.

“He was going there to get vengeance. He was going there to get blood. And he got what he wanted.” – Assistant District Attorney Brendan Bowan

Newton’s girlfriend and mother were involved in the brawl. Newton’s cousin was among the women who went to the home. As an untended toddler stood in the street watching the brawl, Newton’s cousin’s boyfriend punched Newton’s girlfriend in her head as she stood over Newton’s cousin, punching her.

Ellsworth was present at the fight but did not participate in it. He only video recorded it. He was shot and killed two hours and 45 minutes later.

Newton was at his job during the fight. His girlfriend called him to tell him about it. When his shift ended about 6:30 p.m., he went home. His arrival and departure were recorded by his doorbell video camera.

“Come on, come on,” he was recorded saying as he walked out the front door holding a rifle in his left hand, heading to Metairie. The doorbell camera also recorded Newton’s mother on the phone with him after he drove away, pleading with him to calm down.

Newton crossed the Huey P. Long Bridge, enroute to the 2400 block of Pasadena Avenue, where his cousin lived with her boyfriend – the man who punched Newton’s girlfriend. Two witnesses followed Newton to Metairie, hoping to stop him. His arrival, at about 7:30 p.m., was recorded by an apartment building’s video surveillance camera. Two women followed him into the building.

Ellsworth was in the apartment visiting the couple, who almost three hours after the fight were hanging out and playing video games. When Newton arrived, his cousin looked through the front door peephole and saw him holding a gun. They retreated to a bathroom in the apartment, with Newton’s cousin hiding in the linen closet.

Newton kicked in the front door, defeating the deadbolt lock. One of his friends who followed him to Metairie went so far as to throw her cell phone at him in hopes of stopping him. Newton then kicked open the locked bedroom and bathroom doors. Ellsworth was attempting to insert a magazine into a pistol that Newton’s cousin owned in preparing to defend himself and his friends.

Armed with a Glock 9mm semiautomatic pistol he brought to Metairie, Newton shot Ellsworth once in the chest. In his last words before he died on the bathroom floor, Ellsworth told his friends, “Call police.” He never loaded or fired the pistol.

“Earl Ellsworth got his hands on that gun to protect himself and the ones he loved. And Ronald Newton killed him for it,” Assistant District Attorney Brendan Bowen told jurors in closing argument, saying Ellsworth was within his legal right under Louisiana’s stand-your-ground law to arm himself in the face of Newton’s aggression.

Newton also pistol-whipped his cousin’s boyfriend. Newton’s hurried departure was recorded by the apartment’s video surveillance camera, less than two minutes after he arrived.

Newton’s cousin called 911, frantically requesting help and repeatedly crying, “Please!” Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived to find Newton’s cousin’s boyfriend with his hands up at the front door. Newton’s cousin was still screaming. Ellsworth was slumped over against the bathtub on the floor, the unloaded pistol next to his body.

Back on Millender Drive, seven minutes after 911 was called, the doorbell camera recorded Newton’s mother receiving a phone call and then wailing, “Ronald done killed that boy.” Not long after, the doorbell camera recorded Newton arriving and then departing with his girlfriend, carrying clothing and other items.

Detectives immediately identified Newton as the killer and obtained a warrant for his arrest within hours of Ellsworth’s murder. A U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force located and arrested Newton on Aug. 30, 2022, in a fourth-floor room at a New Orleans hotel on Magazine Street at Canal Street.

At trial, Newton’s defense attorney argued there was no evidence that his client was armed when he went into the apartment. The attorney told jurors in closing argument that Newton’s cousin’s boyfriend was armed, and during a tussle, the pistol fired and Ellsworth was fatally shot. The attorney also said Ellsworth was armed.

In rebuttal, Bowen told jurors that Newton had no “blank check” to drive to Metairie two hours and 45 minutes after the fight “and murder someone who never threw a punch.”

“He was going there to get vengeance. He was going there to get blood. And he got what he wanted,” Bowen told jurors.

Newton was charged with first-degree murder, with the aggravating factor being aggravated burglary because he forced his way into the apartment while armed with a pistol. The District Attorney’s Office did not seek the death penalty.

He additionally was convicted of obstruction of justice because he intentionally removed the Glock 9mm pistol he used to kill Ellsworth to obstruct the investigation. That pistol still has not been recovered (nor has the rifle Newton carried out of his home when going to Metairie).

And he was found guilty of two counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He was barred from possessing firearms because of a 2015 conviction of two counts of distributing marijuana in Jefferson Parish. In addition to possessing the murder weapon, Newton is seen in the doorbell camera video leaving his home carrying a rifle and additionally is seen in his social media posing with four rifles.

The jury that was seated on Monday deliberated 1 hour and 15 minutes before returning with its unanimous verdicts.

Judge Lee Faulkner of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Newton on April 3.

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Africk and Brendan Bowen prosecuted the case.

 

Arnold Magee gets life sentence for fatally shooting his estranged girlfriend

A Jefferson Parish judge on Friday (March 8) sentenced Arnold Magee to life in prison for his conviction of firing a military-style rifle at his estranged girlfriend outside his Metairie apartment building, killing her.

Magee, 37, fired two .223-caliber bullets at Kawana Tibbit on July, 2, 2020, while she was in the driver’s seat of her car in the apartment complex parking lot in the 4100 block of Hessmer Avenue, an area of Metairie with a high population density given the number of apartment complexes.

His first bullet struck a van parked nearby. The second bullet struck her in the right arm, causing massive internal damage.

Mortally wounded, Tibbit drove her car forward through the parking lot and crossed Hessmer Avenue to an apartment building. Her car struck a parked vehicle, where she died. She was 27.

A Jefferson Parish jury on Feb. 22 found Magee guilty as charged of second-degree murder.

Click here to read about the crime.

Magee appeared before 24th Judicial District Court Judge Donnie Rowan on Friday for the sentencing hearing, during which Tibbit’s cousin said in impact testimony that “domestic violence is serious.”

“I want you to know that I forgive you, because if I don’t, I know I will not have peace in my heart,” Tibbit’s cousin testified.

Judge Rowan denied Magee’s attorneys’ requests for a new trial, which included arguments that he was defending himself when shot Tibbit. Video surveillance evidence refutes Magee’s self-defense assertions. The judge also noted how the videos show Magee walking around his apartment complex after shooting Tibbit with the military-style rifle.

“I watched you walk around like this was Beirut, like this was a war-torn country,” Judge Rowan told Magee before sending him to the mandatory life sentence in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Taylor Somerville and Rachel Africk prosecuted the case.

Raymond Lee sentenced to life in prison for murdering Alonzo ‘Zo’ Wiley on the West Bank

A Jefferson Parish judge on Thursday (March 7) sentenced Raymond Lee of New Orleans to a mandatory life sentence in prison for his conviction of killing an entrepreneurial barbershop owner in a West Bank motel room.

Lee, 38, shot Alonzo “Zo” Wiley five times during an armed robbery on Dec. 5, 2021. At that time, in the wake of Hurricane Ida, Lee and Wiley were residents at the motel in the 2200 block of the Westbank Expressway.

Wiley, 35, who owned The Grooming Gallery barber shop in the Gretna area and had one previously on Tulane Avenue in New Orleans, dressed well and was known to carry cash. He aspired to expand his Grooming Gallery business.

Lee tricked Wiley into letting him into the motel room. Once inside, however, Lee attempted to rob Wiley. Wiley resisted and attempted to get away but was shot three times. Lee then placed a pillow over Wiley’s head and shot him twice more in the face before fleeing with the victim’s belongings.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives built a circumstantial case in tying Lee to the crime through cell phone technology, physical evidence and statements.

A Jefferson Parish jury on Feb. 2 found Lee guilty as charged of second-degree murder, obstruction of justice and of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

Click here to read more about the crime.

During Thursday’s sentencing hearing, Judge Michael Mentz of the 24th Judicial District Court denied defense requests for a new trial and heard victim impact testimony from family and friends of Wiley, including a letter written by a cousin that a prosecutor read aloud for the court.

“Our family hasn’t been the same since he’s been gone, as he was the one to light up every party and every conversation,” the cousin wrote. “To everyone on the outside looking in, he was a barber and a businessman or even just another name on the docket. But to us he was a protective cousin, a fun uncle, a supportive brother and a loving son.”

“There (were) a lot of people that depended on Alonzo,” the cousin wrote. “We need him. He made us happy. He made us laugh. He made us better. He did not deserve to be a victim of such a senseless, heinous crime. … Our lives are forever changed from the good times that we had with Alonzo, but we are also still feeling the emptiness from his murder.”

In addition to the life sentence, to be served without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence, Judge Mentz sentenced Lee to 40 years for the obstruction charge and 20 for the firearm charge. Judge Mentz ordered the sentenced to be served concurrently.

Assistant District Attorneys Leo Aaron and Tommy Block prosecuted the case.

Arnold Magee guilty of murdering his estranged girlfriend in Metairie

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday (Feb. 22) found Arnold Magee guilty of fatally shooting his estranged girlfriend outside his Metairie apartment.

Magee, 37, is guilty as charged of the second-degree murder of Kawana Tibbit, 27, whom he killed in the 4100 block of Hessmer Avenue on the morning of July 2, 2020, following the end of their 5-year relationship.

Tibbit, who previously lived at the apartment, returned there just after 7 a.m., to retrieve belongings. An argument ensued, during which Tibbit received a phone call from new boyfriend. He could hear commotion in the background. Magee grabbed the phone and told him, “You’re not going to f— with her anymore.”

In a state of panic, the boyfriend told Magee he was on his way over. After the call was disconnected, she fled, and her boyfriend ran to the apartment on foot. By the time he arrived, she was dead.

Magee had armed himself with his Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle and went to the apartment building’s parking lot after she fled. He fired two .223-caliber rounds at Tibbit’s car.

The second round struck Tibbit in the upper right arm and traveled into her chest, causing massive tissue damage to her right lung. The trajectory was consistent with Magee shooting Tibbit while her hands were on her car’s steering wheel.

Struggling to breath and bleeding to death, Tibbit drove on but crashed her car into a vehicle parked outside an apartment building across Hessmer Avenue. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies who responded to the 911 calls found her slumped over in the driver’s seat. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Magee was among the 911 callers. In his 7:26 a.m., call, Magee told the operator that Tibbit tried to run him over in her car, and so he fired his rifle in self-defense. He returned his rifle to a closet in his apartment and waited for deputies to arrive.

Detectives recovered surveillance video footage and an audio recording of the shooting that refute Magee’s self-defense assertions.

Video shows that after Tibbet ran out of Magee’s apartment carrying her shoes, he casually walked out carrying the military-style rifle while speaking on his cell phone. He then stood outside the apartment building, holding the rifle.

Shortly after, Magee and Tibbit appeared to be conversing outside the apartment building. She stood beside her car, while he remained at the entrance to an entry gate to his building, holding the rifle. She got into her car and accelerated away. Magee fired the first bullet. It struck a parked van.

Tibbit then put her car into reverse and veered toward Magee before crashing into the building. After Tibbit’s car came to a stop, Magee fired a second time, striking her. She screamed and accelerated away again, eventually crashing into a parked vehicle across Hessmer.

Magee, meanwhile, casually walked through his apartment building, peering out to where Tibbit’s car crashed across the street. He hid the rifle under his clothing, walked across Hessmer and looked into Tibbit’s car.

He walked back to his apartment and, with the rifle still hidden under his clothing, he called 911. He remained at the scene and voluntarily spoke with detectives.

A deputy recovered the rifle from Magee’s apartment. Its safety selector switch was still in the fire position, and there was a round in the chamber, meaning it was ready to be fired. A full, 30-round magazine was inserted in the rifle.

In addition to maintaining Magee’s self-defense assertions, his attorneys argued that he suffered from alcohol addiction withdrawals and, explaining the rifle, also was fearful of Tibbit’s new boyfriend. The attorneys also suggested that jurors consider returning with a verdict of manslaughter, a lesser degree of homicide committed in the heat of passion that carries a sentence of up to 40 years in prison.

The jury that was seated on Monday deliberated about 1 ½ hours on Thursday before returning with its verdict.

Judge Donnie Rowan of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Magee on March 8.

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Africk and Taylor Somerville prosecuted the case.

Raymond Lee convicted of killing barbershop owner in WB motel

A Jefferson Parish jury on Friday night (Feb. 2) found Raymond “Ray” Lee guilty of killing an entrepreneurial barber shop owner in a West Bank motel room during an armed robbery gone bad.

Lee, 38, of New Orleans, was convicted of the second-degree murder of Alonzo “Zo” Wiley. The 35-year-old owner of The Grooming Gallery in the Gretna area was shot five times at about 4:30 a.m., on Dec. 5, 2021.

Wiley first opened a barber shop on Tulane Avenue in New Orleans but moved it to the West Bank of Jefferson Parish. He hoped to open other Grooming Gallery outlets and was building his brand when he was killed, Assistant District Attorney Leo Aaron told jurors. “He wanted to be somebody,” Aaron said in closing argument Friday. “And you can tell just by looking at him. He dressed well. He took pride in his appearance. He was somebody.”

At the time he died, in the months following Hurricane Ida, Wiley was staying at a motel in the 2200 block of the Westbank Expressway. Lee and his girlfriend were staying there, too.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a 911 call from the motel and found Wiley’s body on the floor of his room. Detectives examined Wiley’s cell phone and found that his last text message exchange was with someone named “Ray.”

That exchange indicated that he and Ray had communicated previously. Lee lied to Wiley, putting him at ease so Wiley would freely allow him into his motel room. Once inside, Lee began the armed robbery.

Evidence shows there was a struggle between the men. Wiley tried to get away from Lee but was trapped, an expert in crime scene reconstruction testified.

Lee shot Wiley three times. After Wiley fell to the floor, Lee covered his head with a pillow and shot Wiley twice more in the face.

Detectives found no subscriber information for the person with whom Wiley communicated in those last text messages. But the detectives found extensive text messages between Wiley and Lee’s girlfriend, who they learned drove a black Jeep Cherokee.

Four minutes after the 911 call was placed, Wiley’s newly purchased BMW was driven from the motel behind a black Jeep Cherokee, detectives discovered by reviewing the motel’s surveillance video recordings.

Twenty-three days after Wiley’s death, on Dec. 28, 2021, detectives tracked the Jeep Cherokee to another West Bank motel. Lee was in the vehicle, and his girlfriend was in their room at the motel.

In that room detectives found a bag of 9mm ammunition manufactured by two different companies, identical to two brands of spent bullet casings found at the Wiley murder scene. Detectives also found a necklace and sunglasses like those worn by Wiley.

Also recovered from the motel room was Lee’s iPhone, which had the text message exchange with Wiley.

They also discovered a video in Lee’s iPhone of a 9mm pistol whose serial number was discernable. Through the serial number, detectives linked the firearm to Wiley’s niece, who purchased it and allowed Wiley to carry. The pistol was reported stolen after Wiley was killed. Lee was trying to offload it, according to evidence recovered from his phone.

Further, the detectives were able to plot Lee’s whereabouts on the morning of Wiley’s murder through his cell phone and cell phone towers. Lee was in the immediate area of Wiley’s murder, refuting his alibi that he was at New Orleans’ lakefront at the time of the crime. Detectives used the cellular technology to show that minutes after Wiley was killed, Lee directly drove to his mother’s home in eastern New Orleans.

Lee’s girlfriend’s phone revealed identical travel data. She was not involved in the armed robbery and murder and was not charged. On the morning of Wiley’s murder, she used her mobile device to search for information about the crime on the internet, and she later read about it on a local news website, the Sheriff’s Office Digital Forensic Unit found.

Following his arrest, Lee ultimately admitted to texting and meeting with Wiley, but he denied killing the man. He further denied being at the scene, an assertion contradicted by the cell phone tower evidence. His attorney assailed the circumstantial case and accused the Sheriff’s Office of fabricating evidence.

Lee also was convicted of obstruction of justice, for intentionally removing the 9mm pistol he used to kill Wiley to hinder the investigation. He additionally was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was barred from possessing firearms because of a 2019 conviction of second-degree battery in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.

Jurors that were seated on Tuesday deliberated just over three hours before finding Lee guilty as charged Friday.

Judge Michael Mentz of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Lee on March 7.

Assistant District Attorneys Leo Aaron and Tommy Block prosecuted the case.

Walter Sippio pleads guilty in post-Hurricane Ida gas station killing

A Jefferson Parish judge on Monday (Jan. 29) sentenced Walter Sippio to 25 years, accepting a negotiated plea agreement in which the defendant admitted he shot a man at a Metairie gas station in the days following Hurricane Ida, when electricity outages were widespread and people sought fuel for generators and their vehicles.

Sippio, 22, of New Orleans, pleaded guilty to manslaughter as jury selection was underway in his trial. He had been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Dwayne Nosacka, 36, of Metairie.

“The defendant’s plea to manslaughter and 25 years ensures the family closure today, as well as prevents the witnesses to this event from having to testify again.” – Assistant District Attorney Rachel Africk

Nosacka was among the numerous people lined up to get gas at the business in the 2300 block of Clearview Parkway on Sept. 3, 3021, when Sippio pulled up and cut into the line. His action led to an argument that culminated with Sippio shooting Nosacka in the parking lot beside the gas pumps.

Sippio fled but later surrendered and subsequently asserted self-defense. He stood trial last year, but a jury deliberated for about six hours but deadlocked on whether Sippio was guilty of second-degree murder. Judge Donald “Chick” Foret of the 24th Judicial District Court then declared a mistrial.

While jury selection was underway on Monday, discussions regarding a plea began.  “In making the decision to allow the defendant to plea to manslaughter and 25 years, the District Attorney’s Office took into consideration the facts of this individual case, the defendant’s age and lack of criminal history,” Assistant District Attorney Rachel Africk told Judge Foret.

“As the court is aware, this case was tried previously, resulting in a hung jury,” Africk told the judge. “The defendant’s plea to manslaughter and 25 years ensures the family closure today, as well as prevents the witnesses to this event from having to testify again.”

The victim’s mother was present in court and gave a victim impact statement.

Judge Foret accepted the plea and sentenced Sippio to 25 years.

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Africk and LaShanda Webb prosecuted the case.

Alonzo Ford sentenced to consecutive life sentences for killing two Marrero men

A Jefferson Parish judge on Thursday (Jan. 11) sentenced Alonzo Ford to back-to-back life sentences in prison for his convictions of murdering two men in Marrero in 2019.

Ford, 48, of Marrero, shot Martin Hatten in the head in the early morning hours of March 30, 2019, as the 50-year-old victim sat in a sports utility vehicle in the 6200 block of 2nd Avenue. Hatten, 50, died days later in a hospital.

About 36 hours after he shot Hatten, on April 1, 2019, Ford shot Laurence Hensley, 55, as the two men had a discussion in a bay at a car wash business at Acre Road and Buccola Avenue.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives quickly identified Ford as the person who shot Hatten. They were tracking his whereabouts and were on the verge of arresting him when he shot Hensley.

The detectives arrested Ford shortly after he shot Hensley, as he fled them on foot while tossing the .38-caliber revolver and a jacket he wore. Detectives later learned that Hensley witnessed Ford shooting Hattan.

A Jefferson Parish jury on Nov. 30 found Ford guilty as charged of two second-degree murder counts.

Jurors also found Ford guilty of two counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of obstruction of justice.

Ford was prohibited from possessing guns because of his criminal history that includes convictions of attempted second-degree murder and narcotics offenses. He finished serving parole in 2018, the year before he killed Hatten and Hensley.

The obstruction counts stem from his discarding the murder weapon and his clothing to hinder the investigation.

During Thursday’s sentencing hearing, family members of both slain men provided victim-impact testimony, telling the court of how Ford’s actions have affected their lives.

“May this letter serve as a testament to the profound grief that your actions have caused our family and your family who was not present during your trial,” Hatten’s niece wrote to the court in letter read aloud by a prosecutor. “My only wish is that you come to understand the magnitude of the pain you have inflicted upon our family.”

“Vengeance is God’s,” Hatten’s older sister testified. “But on the human side, I watched you during the trial. You didn’t seem to have any remorse.”

Said Hensley’s older sister: “He was my best friend. He was a father, uncle. He had grandkids. … I was the one who had to bury him.”

In response to the testimony, Ford expressed his sorrow for the families’ losses but denied killing the men.

After denying defense motions to overturn the verdicts, Judge June Berry Darensburg of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Ford to 20 years for each of the two counts of his being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and 40 years for each of the two counts of obstruction of justice. She ran those sentences concurrently.

Judge Darensburg then sentenced Ford to mandatory life sentences for the two murders. She ran those sentences consecutively to each other and to the other counts.

Assistant District Attorneys Kristen Landrieu and Leo Aaron prosecuted the case.

30-minute jury: Brandon Kestle not insane; guilty of murdering girlfriend’s mother

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday evening (Dec. 14) convicted Brandon Kestle of killing his girlfriend’s mother in their Metairie apartment, rejecting his assertion that he was insane when he shot her twice in the head and therefore could not be held criminally responsible.

Kestle, 34, is guilty as charged of the second-degree murder of Linda Paquette, 66, jurors unanimously decided during 30 minutes of deliberation.

At about 1:30 a.m., on May 25, 2020, Kestle armed himself with a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol and shot her in a bedroom of their newly acquired rental home in the 700 block of North Howard Avenue.

Paquette’s 10-year-old granddaughter witnessed the crime, and her two adult children heard the gunfire and saw Kestle immediately after with the pink and black pistol. After killing her, Kestle called 911, told the operator what he had done and said he would be waiting outside for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies to arrive.

Deputies found Kestle seated on the concrete sidewalk and the pistol set nearby. He surrendered peaceably.

He told one of the deputies that Paquette had been poisoning him since he was a child. He later told a detective that he was sitting on a toilet and smoking marijuana when he decided to kill her. “I just wanted to make sure that b—- was dead,” Kestle told the detective.

Kestle pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.

His attorney argued he was insane at the time he killed Paquette. A forensic psychiatrist testifying for the defense opined that Kestler has a paranoid and persecutorial delusional disorder. She cited, for instance, Kestle’s assertions that Paquette had been poisoning him for 25 years and that someone replaced his children with other children. And because of this disorder, he was unable to distinguish right from wrong at the time of the offense, the forensic psychiatrist testified.

In rebuttal, however, the state provided the testimony of forensic psychologist who found that Kestle has no identifiable delusional disorder. For instance, it made little sense for Kestle to move in with a woman who he later said had been poisoning him – something he said only after he killed her. His marijuana use could have caused paranoia, the forensic psychologist testified.

Further, the state’s forensic psychologist testified that after killing Paquette, he called 911 to report what he had done and surrendered. That behavior demonstrates that he knew right from wrong in killing Paquette, the expert witness testified.

Jurors also heard a recording of a phone call between Kestle and a woman while he was awaiting a mental evaluation in the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center. “You’re not crazy,” the woman told him. “I know,” he replied in agreement. “That’s what I told her.” He added that a psychiatrist told him to go to a mental hospital, and he said that it was in his best interest to do so. The woman responded, “It’s in your best interest.”

He also was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is prohibited from possessing firearms because of a narcotics possession conviction in St. Bernard Parish in a 2015 case.

The jury that was seated on Tuesday heard two days of testimony and returned with its guilty verdicts about 6:15 p.m., Thursday. Judge Nancy Miller of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Kestle on Wednesday (Dec. 20).

Assistant District Attorneys Eric Cusimano and Taylor Somerville 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.