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 24^th Judicial District is scheduled to sentence Spears on July 24.

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

A week after he was convicted of fatally shooting a Kenner man in front of his mother’s home, Albert “Wayne” Cox was sentenced Wednesday to a mandatory life sentence in prison plus another 15 years of incarceration.

Cox, 38, a former Kenner resident, received the additional 15-year sentence for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, for using a .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol to kill Cornel Woods.

Woods, 42, died from a gunshot wound to his chest he received on Oct. 7, 2015, as he stood outside his mother’s home in the 900 block of 27^th Street. Earlier that day, Cox confronted Woods over a woman, calling him “a bitch” and threatening to pistol whip him.

That evening, a friend of Woods’ saw Cox walking up 27^th Street toward Woods’ home, according to trial testimony. Moments later, the friend heard three gunshots and saw the muzzle flashes.

Cox fired three bullets. One struck a truck, another flattened a car tire. The third fatally wounded Woods.

Cox fled to an eastern New Orleans motel, from where he admitted to two cousins in separate telephone conversations that he killed Woods, leading the Kenner Police Department to obtain a warrant for his arrest. Cox admitted the same to another cousin.

Two days after the homicide, the U.S. Marshal’s Service Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force located and arrested Cox outside the bus station in Baton Rouge.

Cox was barred from possessing firearms because of his criminal history. According to the bill of indictment, Cox’s relevant convictions were for distribution of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of cocaine, all of which occurred in Jefferson Parish. Cox was on parole for those offenses at the time he killed Woods, having been released from state prison in May 2015. He was to remain under state supervision through January 2018, according to the Kenner Police Department.

A Jefferson Parish jury deliberated about an hour on April 12 in finding Cox guilty as charged of both counts. Life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence is the mandatory punishment for second-degree murder in Louisiana.

Judge John Molaison of the 24^th Judicial District Court, who presided over the case, denied post-conviction motions for acquittal and a new trial. Judge Molaison ran the sentences consecutively.

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Africk and Douglas Rushton prosecuted the case.

A Kenner man faces a mandatory life sentence in prison for his conviction on Wednesday (April 12) of killing another man on a residential street.

Albert “Wayne” Cox, 38, was convicted as charged of second-degree murder for the Oct. 7, 2015, killing of Cornel Woods. Cox also was convicted as charged of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, for the .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol he used to shoot Woods.

Woods, 42, was shot once in the chest while he stood outside his mother’s home in the 900 block of 27^th Street. Cox fired three bullets at Woods, hours after he threatened him in a dispute involving a woman.

Earlier on the day he was shot, Woods socialized with a friend in his pickup truck in their neighborhood when Cox approached them, striking up an argument and calling Woods “a bitch.” Cox then threatened to “pistol-whip” Woods later, the friend testified.

Later that evening, the friend was walking his dog on 27^th Street when he noticed Cox walking up the street toward Woods’ home. The friend used his cell phone to call Woods to warn him. Moments later, the friend heard three gunshots and saw the muzzle flashes in front of Woods’ mother’s home.

Of the three bullets Cox fired, one struck a car tire, flattening it, and another one hit a truck. The third bullet struck Woods in the chest, killing him.

After the murder, Cox admitted to his cousin on the telephone that he shot woods. He confirmed the revelation to another cousin in a telephone conversation shortly afterwards. The cousins notified the Kenner Police Department, which obtained a warrant for Cox’s arrest.

Cox also spoke with a third cousin, admitting to her, too, that he shot someone and telling her he needed a place to stay. The U.S. Marshal’s Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force tracked Cox to Baton Rouge, where the officers arrested him outside the city’s bus station two days after he killed Woods.

Cox was barred from possessing firearms because of his criminal history. According to the bill of indictment, Cox’s relevant convictions were for distribution of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of cocaine, all of which occurred in Jefferson Parish.

The jury deliberated an hour in reaching its unanimous verdicts. Judge John Molaison of the 24^th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Cox on Wednesday (April 19).

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Africk and Douglas Rushton prosecuted the case.

Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul D. Connick, Jr. announced today that a grand jury has returned an indictment for first-degree murder against Joshua Every for the death of Taylor Friloux.

Ms. Friloux, 21, a manager at a Raising Cane’s restaurant in Kenner, died from injuries she received on June 29, when she was stabbed numerous times during an armed robbery of the business.

“After meeting with Ms. Friloux’s family and consulting with my staff, I have decided my office will seek the death penalty,” Mr. Connick said.

The grand jury separately returned an eight-count indictment charging for offenses associated with the Raising Cane’s incident:

• Every, 23, of LaPlace, two counts of armed robbery, one count of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, false imprisonment with a dangerous weapon, witness intimidation and obstruction of justice;
• Gregory Donald, Jr., 19, of Kenner, second-degree murder of Ms. Friloux, two counts of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, false imprisonment with a dangerous weapon, witness intimidation and obstruction of justice;
• Mark Crocklen, Jr., 25, of LaPlace, second-degree murder of Ms. Friloux, two counts of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, false imprisonment with a dangerous weapon, witness intimidation and obstruction of justice;
• Ariana Runner, 22, of Reserve, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and obstruction of justice.

Because these are pending matters, there will be no further comment by this office.

A Metairie woman pleaded guilty Monday morning (June 20) to participating in the death of Jaren Lockhart, the French Quarter exotic dancer who was fatally stabbed in a Kenner home four years ago before her body was dismembered and her body parts were discarded along the Mississippi Gulf Coast by the two killers.

One year and one day after her ex-boyfriend Terry Speaks was convicted for his role in the same crime, Margaret Sanchez, 32, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. She was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Lockhart, 22, the mother of a 3-year-old child, died on June 6, 2012, after agreeing to leave her French Quarter job in the early morning hours with Sanchez and Speaks. The trio went to the home that Sanchez and Speaks shared in the 2000 block of Connecticut Avenue, near Louis Armstrong International Airport in Kenner, where Speaks and Sanchez killed Lockhart.

“After consulting with Ms. Lockhart’s family, it was decided that the negotiated plea agreement was in the best interests of all parties involved,” Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul D. Connick, Jr. said. “Out of respect for Ms. Lockhart and her family, I will not comment further on the case or the evidence.”

Members of Lockhart’s family, along with numerous law enforcement officers from Kenner and Mississippi who were involved in the investigation, were present in the courtroom when Sanchez pleaded guilty.

“Words cannot express the pain her family and friends have endured since the murder,” Donna Kulick, guardian of Ms. Lockhart’s daughter, said in impact testimony.

She said the girl still cries over the loss of her mother, and that their family is “forever broken.”

“This will have a huge impact on her for the rest of her life,” Kulick testified.

In accepting the plea agreement, Judge Stephen Grefer of the 24^th Judicial District Court, who presided over both criminal cases, sentenced Sanchez to 40 years for manslaughter, 40 years for obstruction of justice and 20 years for the charge of conspiracy to obstruct justice.

The three sentences are the maximum for the respective charges. Judge Grefer ran the sentences concurrently.

Sanchez was scheduled to stand trial beginning July 11 on charges of second-degree murder, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Speaks, 43, was convicted as charged on June 19, 2015, of second-degree murder, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. He is serving two life sentences at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. The first of those life sentences was handed down for the second degree murder.

After initially sentencing Speaks to 40 years in prison for obstruction of justice, Judge Grefer ruled on Jan. 22 that Speaks is a quadruple felony offender under Louisiana’s habitual offender law. Judge Grefer then handed down the second life sentence.

Sanchez has been held in the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna since May 2014, when the Kenner Police Department arrested her in connection with Lockhart’s death. She and Speaks were indicted by a Jefferson Parish grand jury on Aug. 14, 2014. She was unable to post a $1.5 million bond.

Sanchez’s last court appearance was Dec. 7, when Judge Grefer denied requests to dismiss the indictment and, alternatively, to move the trial out of the Jefferson Parish area. Her attorneys asserted the extraordinary pretrial publicity the case received by local news media made it difficult to seat a fair and impartial jury. However, her July 11 trial date was set that day, court records show.

Assistant District Attorneys Doug Freese and Tommy Block prosecuted both cases.