Tag: jefferson parish sheriff’s office

William Frye guilty in Jefferson bank robbery, carjacking, kidnapping

A Jefferson Parish jury deliberated less than an hour on Wednesday evening (Sept. 25) in finding William Frye guilty of robbing a Jefferson Highway bank before forcibly taking a car from a nearby family and speeding away with a teenager in the back seat.

Frye, 47, of Jefferson’s Shrewsbury neighborhood, was convicted as charged of two counts of simple robbery, carjacking and second-degree kidnapping.

Wearing a hooded shirt and erratically waving a white pillowcase, Frye stormed into a bank branch in the 3600 block of Jefferson Highway at about 1:15 p.m., on Nov. 30, 2022, threatening deadly violence and demanding that the tellers turn over cash.

He threw the pillowcase at two tellers, ordering them both to fill it. They complied. He then fled on foot, dumping his gloves, the pillowcase and the hoodie in a Sizeler Avenue back yard before hopping a resident’s fence and emerging in the 3500 block of Berwick Street.

At that time, a woman and two family members arrived at a Berwick Street business. The woman alone had exited the car but left the engine running. Frye jumped into the driver’s seat, rebuffing another family member’s attempts to physically remove him.

Frye sped away with an 18-year-old woman in the back seat. About 25 yards away, the terrified teenager jumped out of a back door, breaking her pelvis and she hit the roadway.

After striking a parked car and continuing, Frye abandoned the car less than a mile away, at Scott Street and Saia Lane. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, which launched a manhunt that included the agency’s helicopter, quickly obtained information identifying Frye as the suspect.

Detectives and FBI agents tracked Frye to a motel in the 5700 block of Airline Drive, where he had been renting a room. After conducting surveillance, agents located Frye walking out of the room. When he saw the law enforcement officers, Frye fled on foot. He was captured a short distance away.

Frye left the motel that morning, telling the manager he would pay for his room that day but that he had to go to the bank, first. Detectives later obtained images from the motel’s security system of Frye leaving the business that morning. He wore the same clothing as the robber.

In Frye’s pocket when he was arrested, detectives found cash that was directly linked to what was stolen from the bank. In the motel room he occupied, detectives found cash stuffed under the mattress. One of the white pillowcases was missing.

Further, the Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab found Frye’s DNA on the steering wheel of the car he stole and in one of the gloves he wore during the robbery, which he dumped in the Sizeler Avenue backyard.

From her hospital room, where she underwent surgery, the teenaged kidnapping victim read an online news report about the bank robbery that included Frye’s booking mugshot. She alerted detectives, confirming that Frye was the carjacker.

Frye denied committing the crimes. His attorney argued that the Sheriff’s Office arrested the wrong suspect.

The jury, which was seated Tuesday and heard two days of testimony, deliberated 49 minutes before returning with its unanimous verdicts.

Judge Frank Brindisi of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Frye on Wednesday (Oct. 2).

Assistant District Attorneys Eric Cusimano and Taylor Somerville prosecuted the case.

Myron Lee sentenced to life plus 89 1/2 years in prison in the murder of fellow National Guardsman

A Jefferson Parish judge on Thursday (Sept. 19) sentenced Myron Lee to life plus 89 ½ years in prison for his conviction in the death of a fellow citizen soldier who was shot during a botched armed robbery attempt.

Lee, 22, of Gonzales, was convicted as charged this month in the death of Jemond Cador, 21, who was shot seven times in his Terrytown apartment on Dec. 6, 2021, after he fought back against the armed intruders.

Click here to read about the verdict.

Lee and Cador were members of the same Louisiana Army National Guard unit. Lee recruited cohorts to rob Cador, providing them with firearms and transportation to the West Bank from the Baton Rouge area to carry out the crime.

Lee kicked in the apartment entry door and immediately was met with physical resistance by Cador. In response, one of Lee’s cohorts, Gerald Little, shot Cador, killing him. Little was the only person to discharge a weapon.

A Jefferson Parish jury on Sept. 5 found Lee guilty as charged of second-degree murder, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

Calling the crime “egregious,” 24th Judicial District Judge Jacqueline Maloney on Thursday sentenced Lee to the mandatory life sentence for the murder, 40 years for obstruction of justice and 49 1/2 years for the conspiracy – the maximum sentences for the latter charges. She ran the sentences consecutively.

“I hope you’re ashamed of yourself every day for the rest of your life,” Judge Maloney told Lee before ordering him to “sit down” in concluding the sentencing hearing.

A look at Lee’s codefendants’ cases shows:

  • Little, 21, of Loranger, who shot Cador, was convicted as charged of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit armed robbery by a jury on Oct. 18, 2023. He was sentenced to life in prison.
  • Isaiah White, 22, of Covington, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to commit armed robbery on July 18, 2023 and has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
  • Kewane K. Edwards, 24, of Harvey, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to commit armed robbery on Aug. 16, 2023 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
  • Matthew Kerry Smith, 22, of Covington, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to commit armed robbery on Nov. 20, 2023 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Assistant District Attorneys Zach Grate and Alyssa Aleman prosecuted Lee’s and Little’s trials.

 

After ‘Ramos retrial,’ Charles Turner sentenced to life in prison for raping a child

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (May 29) sentenced Charles Turner to spend the rest of his life in prison for his conviction of raping a young child.

It was the second time that Turner, 44, formerly of Metairie, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the crime.

He abused the child over a two-year period beginning in 2013, when the victim was 8 years old. In 2017, a Jefferson Parish jury found Turner guilty as charged of aggravated rape, which carries a mandatory life sentence in prison.

That jury rendered a split verdict, with 11 of the 12 jurors voting in favor of aggravated rape. At the time, non-unanimous jury verdicts were permissible under Louisiana law. However, Turner was granted a new trial in 2020, after the U.S. Supreme Court decided in its Ramos v. Louisiana decision that non-unanimous jury verdicts are unconstitutional.

Turner was retried earlier this month. He again was found guilty as charged of aggravated rape. This time, all 12 jurors agreed with the verdict.

Prior to the sentencing on Wednesday, the victim, now a young adult, testified about the “humiliation and pain” of being victimized and disclosed suicidal thoughts resulting from Turner’s actions.

After denying a defense motion for a new trial, 24th Judicial District Judge Lee Faulkner, who did not preside over the first trial, sentenced Turner to life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Assistant District Attorney Zach Grate and Brendan Bowen prosecuted the case the second time.

 

Lam Thach sentenced to life plus 40 years for murdering Ngoc Bich Nguyen in domestic violence stabbing

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (May 22) sentenced Lam Thach to life in prison plus 40 years for his conviction of fatally stabbing his girlfriend and then discarding evidence tying him to the crime.

Thach, 43, was convicted as charged by a jury earlier this month of the second-degree murder of Ngoc Bich Nguyen, 41.

Thach, who has a history of domestic violence, stabbed her in the neck inside his mobile home in Marrero on Aug. 1, 2021. He then fled on foot, removing his shirt as he walked and tossing it in a nearby garbage bin — leading to his conviction of obstruction of justice.

Nguyen, the oldest of six children and the mother of two, bled to death while being cradled in her mother’s arms on the ground at the Ames Boulevard trailer park. Just moments earlier, Nguyen’s mother witnessed Thach pulling the kitchen knife from her firstborn’s neck.

“Her pain is immeasurable,” one of Nguyen’s younger sisters said of her mother in victim-impact testimony on Wednesday. “Our family will forever bear the scars of this tragedy.”

Click here to read about the trial.

After denying defense motions for a new trial and post-verdict judgment of acquittal, 24th Judicial District Court Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach sentenced Thach to the mandatory life sentence in prison for the murder and the maximum 40 years in prison for obstruction of justice.

Judge Kovach ran the sentences consecutively and then denied the defense motion to reconsider her sentencing decision.

“I believe that the sentence is justified, given the horrific nature of the crime, given the victim impact testimony and, in particular, the lack of remorse shown by Mr. Thach,” Judge Kovach said. She noted Thach laughing when questioned by a Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office detective after his arrest.

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

District Attorney’s Office will not seek charges against JPSO detectives in 2019 fatal shooting of Chris Joseph and Daviri Robertson

GRETNA, La. – Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul D. Connick Jr. announced today that his office will not seek criminal charges against JPSO narcotics Detectives Paul Carmouche and Mike Wibble. This matter arises out of a narcotics investigation conducted by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office that resulted in the deaths of Chris Joseph and Daviri Robertson.

“The role of the District Attorney in all criminal cases is to seek justice,” D.A. Connick said. “This is done by pursuing the evidence and law according to the highest standards of ethics and integrity, and by determining the facts from an independent, objective and neutral perspective.

“While a homicide is the killing of one person by another, not every homicide is a crime,” D.A. Connick said. “As in all cases, our review must focus upon the elements of proof as well as any legal justifications or defenses that may apply.”

Upon receipt of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office’s report, in which homicide detectives concluded that lethal force was justified, this office began a comprehensive and independent review of this matter without regard to costs, resources or the time required to reach a fair and just decision. As part of our initial review, this office consulted with use-of-force expert, JPSO Lt. Benny Griffin.  Additionally, this office retained independent use-of-force expert Sheriff Ken Katsaris (retired) to provide an opinion on the detectives’ actions in this case.

Both experts agree that the application of deadly force in this situation was reasonable and comports with recognized, accepted and law enforcement training practices.

In light of the evidence reviewed in this matter, the State cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the actions of the detectives rise to the level of criminal conduct.

The D.A.’s Office has published on its website, www.jpda.us, its final report on the matter, outlining the details of its review, analysis of this case and reasons for the decision. Click here to read the District Attorney’s report.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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.