Tag: murder

Monica Every, Louis Gordon convicted in Metairie murder-for-hire plot

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday night (April 17) found Monica Every and Louis Gordon guilty of conspiring to kill her ex-boyfriend’s new lover, a scheme they carried out after Every’s harassment campaign failed to end the relationship.

Their conspiracy culminated on the morning of Jan. 27, 2022, when Gordon fatally shot Every’s romantic rival, Charlene Jones, in Metairie. For that, Every paid Gordon $10,000.

Jones, 48, was shot three times from the back while sitting in her car outside her apartment in the gated complex in the 2500 block of South Interstate 10 Service Road, near Causeway Boulevard.

Every, 52, of LaPlace, was convicted of being a principal to second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and solicitation for second-degree murder.

Gordon, 37, of New Orleans, was convicted of second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree murder, of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and of obstruction of justice.

Every’s boyfriend broke off their 7-year relationship on Christmas Day 2021 to be with Jones. Every was aware of his involvement with Jones, evidenced by the string of angry text messages she sent to him on the day after Christmas, including one in which she called Jones “that old bitch dog.” During the following weeks, Every began an escalating pattern of harassing Jones.

“If Monica Every can’t have him, no one can. That’s what this case is about. It’s as simple as that,” Assistant District Attorney Lindsay Truhe told jurors on April 11 in opening statements. “(Every) was willing to do what it took to eliminate her.”

“It goes beyond obsession,” Assistant District Attorney Matthew Whitworth told jurors Thursday evening during closing argument.

Determined to end the relationship, Every had Gordon sprinkle “voodoo dust” on Jones’ car. She made harassing phone calls, leading Jones and her ex-boyfriend to change their phone numbers.

At Every’s request, Gordon planted a pistol in Jones’ car. Every then called Crimestoppers, anonymously reporting that the firearm hidden in Jones’ car was linked to a teenager’s homicide in New Orleans East. A New Orleans Police Department homicide detective, assisted by Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies, investigated the Crimestoppers tip. The detective quickly determined that neither Jones nor the pistol was tied in the New Orleans homicide.

Rattled by being questioned in connection with a homicide investigation, Jones immediately told detectives about Every’s ongoing harassment.

Every also hoped that the apartment complex management would bar her ex-boyfriend from the property. She obtained court records from Tangipahoa Parish, where he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 1997, and anonymously faxed them to the management from a local office supply store. Jefferson Parish detectives later confirmed that Every faxed the court records by viewing security video footage from the office supply store.

Every tried to get an acquaintance who resided in the apartment complex to report her felon ex-boyfriend’s presence on the property. She called that acquaintance seven times in one day in this failed effort.

“When she couldn’t scare Charlene Jones away, the evidence will show she paid this man to kill her,” Truhe told jurors, pointing to Gordon.

It was just before 5 a.m., on Jan. 27, 2022, when Jones slid into her driver’s seat just outside her apartment to prepare to drive to her job. Just as she started the engine and put the transmission in drive, Gordon began shooting.

Jones’ boyfriend was among the residents who heard the gunfire and who called 911. He ran to Jones’ car and opened the driver’s door to find her mortally wounded.

Deputies found her unresponsive in the driver’s seat. Next to the car, they found five spent 9mm bullet casings and bullet damage on the car. The bullet that ended Jones’ life passed through her left arm and entered her torso, where it punctured her lung and severed the aorta.

Detectives obtained video surveillance footage of the shooter’s car passing the momentarily untended guard house at the entrance to the apartment complex. Within five minutes, the car is seen speeding out of the complex.

Although the Ford Fusion had no license plate, detectives were able to identify its owner: Gordon’s girlfriend, a 29-year-old mother of four who lived in New Orleans East.

She was initially viewed as a suspect and booked with second-degree murder. She was jailed while Gordon fled to Florida, where he was later arrested. She allowed Gordon to use her car and one of her daughters’ cell phones on the morning Jones was murdered. She was aware that Gordon did odd tasks for Every, but she was unaware of the murder scheme.

She eventually was charged with and pleaded guilty to money laundering for handling some of the money that Every paid Gordon. She was sentenced to two years of probation and testified about Gordon’s interaction with Every and the money Every gave her boyfriend.

Detectives recovered cell phone communications and financial transactions that linked Every and Gordon to the conspiracy to kill Jones. Two cell phones that Gordon possessed were at the apartment complex when Jones was killed, including the one he borrowed from his girlfriend, detectives learned. Minutes after he shot Jones, Gordon sent a text message to her, “$$$.” Gordon even had his mother cash a $4,000 check that Every provided to him.

As the investigation unfolded, Every learned that detectives encountered Gordon. The next day, Every called the lead case detective, saying she had information to offer. She met detectives at a New Orleans coffee shop and, without being prompted to do so, she provided an alibi showing she was at her home in LaPlace when Jones was killed. Unbeknownst to the detectives, Every recorded their conversation on her cell phone.

Every’s and Gordon’s attorneys denied the charges. They said that Every’s ex-boyfriend or the father of Gordon’s girlfriend’s children could have killed Jones. In defending the money transactions between Every and Gordon, Gordon’s attorney said his client helped Every acquire cabinets for her home. In testimony Thursday, Gordon said he is innocent.

Jurors deliberated almost 2 ½ hours Thursday night before returning with their unanimous guilty verdicts on all counts. Judge R. Christopher Cox of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Every and Gordon on May 29.

Assistant District Attorneys Matthew Whitworth, Lindsay Truhe and Sarah Helmstetter prosecuted the case.

Anthony Morgan sentenced to life in Airline Drive murder

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (Feb. 26) sentenced Anthony Morgan to spend the rest of his life in prison for opening fire on a rival on Airline Drive in Metairie, fatally wounding him as he sat in the driver’s seat of his car.

Armed with an assault-style rifle, Morgan, 42, of Metairie, fired numerous bullets at Aaron Lee on the night of April 25, 2022, while Lee waited at a traffic light at Airline and Turnbull drives. Four bullets struck Lee, including a head wound that ended the 44-year-old Metairie resident’s life in a hospital three days later.

For that, a jury found Morgan guilty as charged of second-degree murder on Dec. 5.

Click here to read about the trial.

In victim-impact testimony presented during the sentencing hearing, members of Lee’s family described him a joyful man of faith. “My dad once again won’t see me cross the stage in a cap and gown,” wrote one of his daughters, who was a high school athlete when he was murdered and is now a 19-year-old college student.

His youngest daughter noted they were somewhat estranged. “It tears me apart that my daddy left this earth thinking his youngest daughter never wanted to see him again,” she wrote.

His mother described the anger, sadness and depression she has experienced as a result of her oldest son’s death. She referred to him as her best friend. Morgan “took that away from me, and I’ll never be the same,” she wrote.

Directing his comments to Lee’s family and friends in the courtroom, Morgan expressed his sorrow for what happened, calling it “a sad situation” and insisting he was defending himself when he shot Lee. He then bemoaned his going to prison for life: “I’m sorry for what y’all going through. My family lost me, too.”

After denying post-verdict defense motions, Judge June Berry Darensburg of the 24th Judicial District Court expressed condolences for Lee’s family. She noted that Morgan initially denied involvement. Morgan then asserted self-defense.

“You continue to make excuses today,” Judge Darensburg told Morgan. “I think what you said to the family was disrespectful.”

She sentenced Morgan to mandatory life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

In addition to the murder count, jurors found Morgan guilty of three counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of obstruction of justice.

Judge Darensburg sentenced Morgan to 20 years for each of the firearm counts and 40 years for each of the obstruction counts – the maximum on all. She ran the sentences concurrently.

Assistant District Attorneys Kristen Landrieu and Brendan Bowen prosecuted the case.

 

Convicted of killing teen at a Marrero playground, Elijah Augustus and Trenton Tatum sentenced to life in prison

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (Feb. 5), sentenced two Harvey men to spend the rest of their lives in prison for their convictions of luring a teenager to a public playground in Marrero with claims of selling him a gun but instead shooting him to death while trying to rob him.

Elijah Augustus, 23, and Trenton Tatum, 33, were convicted as charged last month of the second-degree murder of 19-year-old Hassan Veal, who died at Pard Playground on the night of Aug. 5, 2021. They additionally were convicted of conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

A third defendant, Tyron Edwards, 23, of Harvey, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to commit armed robbery on Sept. 10, 2024. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Evidence shows that Edwards, who is Tatum’s nephew, fired one shot but did not shoot at Veal.

“They stole an innocent man’s life away from him and from his family for no good reason at all,” Assistant District Attorney Leo Aaron told jurors in closing argument on Jan. 10. “They took from him everything he was and everything he will ever be.”

On Wednesday, Augustus and Tatum were returned to 24th Judicial District Judge Michael Mentz’s courtroom to be sentenced. Veal’s mother, sister, aunt, cousin and high school history teacher each provided victim-impact testimony.

They described Veal as “a bright light” in their lives, who in younger years portrayed Jesus and a king during Christmas pageants at their church, who attended college studying to become an engineer and who encouraged his elderly grandmother to open a Facebook account “so she could stay in touch with the world.” Now, the family can only visit his grave and dwell on “what could have been,” they testified.

Responding to reports of gunfire on the night of Aug. 5, 2021, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies found Veal about 10:30 p.m., lying near the concrete drainage canal bank next to Pard Playground. He had been shot nine times, including once in the face, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Just over three hours earlier, Veal electronically sent $666 to Augustus via Cash App as payment for a gun. That night, Veal and his girlfriend drove to the playground, expecting to meet Augustus to get the gun.

Edwards, Augustus and Tatum arrived at Pard earlier to await Veal’s arrival. After he arrived, Veal approached Edwards, who sat in his car. Tatum and Augustus emerged from hiding with guns drawn and demanded money from Veal.

Veal told the gunmen that he had no money. His girlfriend sat in his car nearby as the robbery unfolded. Armed with an assault-style pistol, Tatum, wearing a mask, confronted the girlfriend and ordered her to turn over money.

Veal called out that she had nothing. He tried to flee but could not escape. Moments later, the gunmen opened fire on Veal.

The incident was recorded by a nearby residential security system, showing the muzzle flashes, beginning from the one Edwards fired as he stepped out of his car and those Tatum and Augustus fired.

Tatum “for no reason, completely unprovoked, unloads 26 rounds at Hassan Veal. A bright constant muzzle flash from a semi-automatic rifle, bullet after bullet at an unarmed 19-year-old begging for his life,” Assistant DA Aaron told jurors last month, describing the surveillance video recording.

Veal’s girlfriend fled in his car but returned after the gunmen sped away and remained until deputies arrived.

In all, thirty-one bullet casings, fired by three firearms, were recovered at the murder scene. Twenty-six of those bullets were .223-caliber and 5.56 mm, all fired from the same weapon – Tatum’s. Deputies also found an iPhone, which the Sheriff’s Office Digital Forensic Unit determined belonged to Edwards. He dropped it during the crime. It led to his arrest.

The Digital Forensic Unit found text messages on Edwards’ phone showing that he was communicating with Augustus, including a message saying “Y’all seen that car,” a message coinciding with the timing of Veal’s arrival at the playground.

As the investigation unfolded, detectives arrested Augustus. The Digital Forensic Unit found that Augustus had been in contact with Veal seven times during the day of the murder. The last call between Augustus and Veal was at 10:24 p.m., three minutes before the first of six 911 calls reporting gunfire was made.

Augustus also was in contact with Tatum, who days before the murder discussed setting up “a lick,” or an armed robbery. They had a similar exchange on the day of the murder, in which Tatum asked Augustus about setting up a robbery. Augustus replied that he had something in mind – Veal.

The Sheriff’s Office further confirmed through Cash App that Veal transferred $666 to Augustus 3 ½ hours before the homicide. The detectives also gathered evidence through Augustus’ cell phone location services showing he was at the playground during the murder.

On Aug. 11, 2021, Tatum was located and arrested at a motel in the 5300 block of the Westbank Expressway in Marrero. A .40-caliber pistol found in the motel room. The Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab determined it was used in the murder.

Detectives also searched Tatum’s cell phone and learned that two hours after the murder, he used the device to search for news stories about the murder. He also searched the internet for his name in association with Veal’s murder, and inquired about criminal defenses, including how to defend oneself from assertions raised by “a snitch.”

Tatum additionally was convicted of two counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He was forbidden from possessing firearms because of his 2010 convictions of attempted second-degree murder, for which he received a 15-year prison sentence.

The defense attorneys argued that Tatum and Augustus were wrongly accused and are innocent. They assailed the prosecution’s key witness as being untruthful and sought to undermine the Sheriff’s Office investigation.

The jury deliberated about three hours on Jan. 10 in finding Tatum and Augustus guilty as charged.

In addition to sentencing the duo to life in prison for the murder, Judge Mentz ordered each man to serve 49 years in prison for conspiracy to commit armed robbery. The judge also sentenced Tatum to two 20-year sentences for each of the firearm possession counts. All sentences were run concurrently.

After the sentencing hearing, Augustus pleaded guilty to unrelated charges of possession of Tramadol, possession of a firearm while in possession of a controlled dangerous substance (marijuana), and to misdemeanor charges of marijuana possession and disturbing the peace. Judge Mentz sentenced Augustus to five years for each of the felonies, and six months and a $100 fine for the misdemeanors.

Assistant District Attorneys Leo Aaron and James Wascom prosecuted the case.

 

Gerald Barker sentenced to back-to-back life sentences for double-murder

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (Dec. 18) sentenced Gerald “Bird” Barker to back-to-back life sentences in prison for executing two people in a Westwego residence from where he sometimes sold crack cocaine.

Barker, 37, will serve the life sentences for the second-degree murders of Linda Turner, 68, and Curtis Thomas, 51, who were shot inside Turner’s home in the 600 block of Emile Avenue on Jan. 17, 2023.

A Jefferson Parish jury on Dec. 4 deliberated about 20 minutes in finding Barker guilty as charged of killing Turner and Thomas, in addition to convicting him of obstruction of justice, possession of cocaine and of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

Turner owned the home in which she died. She allowed Barker to sell narcotics from the home, and Barker later confessed to a Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office detective that he helped her pay her bills because of this arrangement.

At about 9 p.m. Jan. 17, 2023, an acquaintance of theirs went to the home, discovered the bodies and called 911. Deputies found Thomas lying in a pool of his blood on the living room floor just inside the front door. He was pronounced dead at the scene. They found Turner seated on her sofa in the living room suffering from gunshot wounds. She died shortly after at a hospital.

The physical evidence shows that Thomas was standing just inside the front door when Barker, standing in the doorway, shot him in the back of his head, according to an expert in crime scene reconstruction. Thomas fell to the ground, and Barker stood over him and shot him in the face. Barker then entered the living room and shot Turner in her face, arm and head, according to the expert.

Detectives developed Barker as a suspect almost immediately. They also obtained surveillance video from a nearby residence showing that immediately after the murders, Barker ran from the house.

The detectives learned that Barker ran to his friend Lee Wings’ home less than a mile away, on Gwen Street.

Armed with an arrest warrant, members of the U.S. Marshals Service Gulf Coast Fugitive Task Force located Barker at an addiction treatment facility in New Orleans in March 2023 and took him into custody.

During his interview with the Sheriff’s Office, Barker admitted he sold crack cocaine from the Turner’s home and occasionally resided there. But he said he was at Wing’s home when Turner and Thomas were slain. He eventually confessed to shooting the two people.

“I hope and pray that you never see the streets again. Ever,” Thomas’s ex-wife told the court Wednesday in victim-impact testimony. “It was uncalled for. It was totally uncalled for. I know your family can see you again. We can never see him again. It’s never.”

Before announcing the sentences, Judge Frank Brindisi of the 24th Judicial District Court told Barker he is “incorrigible,” citing his numerous convictions of possession of cocaine since 2007.

“I don’t think you’ll ever go straight,” Judge Brindisi told him. “I think you’re a one-man crime wave.”

For the murders, he sentenced Barker to the mandatory life sentences, to be served without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. He ran the sentences consecutively.

Judge Brindisi separately sentenced Barker to 40 years for obstruction of justice and fined him $100,000, for eliminating the murder weapon; two years for possession of cocaine; and, 20 years for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Barker was prohibited from possessing firearms because of a 2018 conviction of possession of cocaine.

“Mr. Barker, you’re going where you need to be,” Judge Brindisi told him. “Good luck.”

Separately, Barker’s co-defendant, Wings, 59, pleaded guilty Wednesday to accessory after the fact to second-degree murder and was sentenced to three years of active probation. After Barker committed the murders, Wings drove Barker to the east bank of Jefferson Parish, stopping on the Crescent City Connection along the way so that Barker could toss the murder weapon into the Mississippi River. After returning to the West Bank, Wings left Barker at a motel.

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

Anthony Morgan convicted of murder in Airline Drive ‘ambush’ shooting

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday (Dec. 5) found Anthony Morgan guilty of brazenly ambushing a man who was sitting in his car at an Airline Drive intersection in Metairie when he was fatally shot.

Morgan, 44, of Metairie, was convicted of the second-degree murder of Aaron Lee, 44, also of Metairie. Lee was shot multiple times as he sat in the driver’s seat of his Dodge Charger, waiting for the traffic light to change at Airline Drive and Turnbull Drive on April 25, 2022.

Responding to 911 calls at about 12:45 a.m., Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies found Lee inside the Charger, which was in westbound Airline’s left turn lane. Although he was shot four times, including a fatal wound to his left eye, Lee had not yet died. He had a loaded shotgun with a sawed-off barrel in his lap.

Nearby, the deputies found an unoccupied Infiniti M37, in Turnbull’s northbound lane at Airline – the car Morgan was in.

Detectives obtained surveillance footage from nearby businesses showing Morgan arriving at the intersection in the Infiniti. Seventeen seconds later, he stepped out of the vehicle, stumbling at first and losing his cap.

Carrying an assault-style semiautomatic rifle, Morgan began shooting as he backed away from Lee. Morgan then changed course, aggressively moving toward Lee, in all firing more than 47 .223-caliber bullets as he focused his fire on his target.

“That’s a guerilla-style ambush in the middle of Airline Highway,” Assistant District Attorney Brendan Bowen told jurors in closing argument Thursday.

Morgan, who lived a half-block from the murder scene, then fled on foot into the adjacent neighborhood, leaving the Infiniti and his cap on the roadway.

Detectives found a car registered to Morgan parked nearby with the rifle he used inside it, along with his cell phone. The detectives identified Morgan as the shooter and obtained an arrest warrant. A U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force arrested Morgan four days after the shooting at an apartment in eastern New Orleans.

Detectives also learned that Lee and Morgan had been intimately involved with the same woman, and that there were ongoing hostilities between the men.

Morgan initially denied involvement and told a detective that he was with “a call girl” when Lee was shot. However, his DNA was recovered from the cap that fell from his head as he stumbled out of the Infiniti. Morgan now asserts self-defense.

Morgan told jurors Wednesday he carried an assault-style rifle for protection and said he had heard that Lee believed he killed an acquaintance in the Shrewsbury neighborhood. He described himself as the victim of an ambush and started shooting Lee only after Lee stepped out of his car and pointed a rifle at him as a second gunman fired from behind him.

However, evidence shows that Lee was seated inside his car when he was shot in his left eye, and that the bullet had passed through the windshield or driver’s side window and was tumbling when it struck him, according to the pathologist who conducted the autopsy and a crime scene reconstruction expert. Further, there was no blood or biological matter found on the outside of Lee’s white car, indicating that he had not stepped out of the driver’s seat to shoot at Morgan when he was shot.

The evidence shows that Morgan was not in imminent danger when he shot Lee, meaning his actions in shooting Lee were not reasonable or justifiable, Assistant District Attorney Kristen Landrieu told jurors Thursday.  “Aaron Lee should be with his family,” she argued. “He should be celebrating birthdays and Christmas and Thanksgiving. And he’s not, because Anthony Morgan took things into his own hands. This is a second-degree murder. There is no other option.”

Following his arrest and while held in the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center, Morgan enlisted Brittany M. Schoeppner and Joseph A. Freeman Jr., to retrieve a semiautomatic rifle from his apartment to hinder the ongoing murder investigation. They complied with the request.

Schoeppner, 32, of Kenner, pleaded guilty on July 11 to obstruction of justice and to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. She then pleaded guilty under the state’s habitual offender law and was sentenced to 13 years and four months in prison. She was forbidden to carry firearms because of prior a narcotic conviction in New Orleans.

Freeman, 58, of Metairie, pleaded guilty on April 11 to obstruction of justice and to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He received a 10-year prison sentence. He was forbidden from possessing firearms because of a prior narcotics conviction in Jefferson Parish and a simple burglary conviction in New Orleans.

In addition to second-degree murder, Morgan was convicted of three counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of obstruction of justice. He was prohibited from carrying firearms because of narcotics convictions in New Orleans.

The jury that was seated Monday deliberated less than one hour in finding him guilty of all six counts.

Judge June Berry Darensburg of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Morgan on Jan. 23.

Assistant District Attorneys Kristen Landrieu and Brendan Bowen prosecuted the case.

Cody Labranche sentenced to two life sentences plus 40 years for Metairie double murder

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (Dec. 4) sentenced Cody Labranche to back-to-back life sentences, plus 40 years in prison for his conviction of murdering two men in their Metairie home.

Labranche, 30, of Ponchatoula, received the mandatory sentence for the first-degree murders of Jonathan Pizzuto, 39, and his roommate William Mitchell, 36.

Labranche shot the men in the living room of their home in the 600 block of Rosa Avenue on Jan. 17, 2002, as the victims played video games. Pizzuto had been in a long-term romantic relationship with Labranche’s sister, who overdosed inside the residence in July 2020. Labranche blamed Pizzuto for her death.

Following his arrest and during his trial, Labranche asserted self-defense, saying that as he entered the living room, he thought Mitchell was reaching for a weapon. So, he opened fire. The crime scene reconstruction refutes Labranche’s self-defense claim.

A Jefferson Parish jury on Nov. 8 found Labranche guilty as charged.

Click here to read about the trial.

In addition to the murders, Labranche was convicted of obstruction of justice, for hindering the investigation by disposing of the murder weapon. He told detectives he tossed the pistol in a river.

On Wednesday, family members recounted in victim-impact testimony how Pizzuto deeply mourned Labranche’s sister’s death; they were a couple for more than a decade, and their ashes are together now “for eternity,” one relative said.

“You killed these boys because you were evil and sick-minded,” Pizzuto’s mother testified, adding that Pizzuto’s teenage nephew was playing video games with his uncle on that night and heard the gunfire through the tv game console, unaware of what was happening.

In a prepared statement read aloud in court, Mitchell’s sister said her brother “died trying to get out of the door” when Labranche began shooting. She noted her brother also mourned the death of Labranche’s sister and even drove from California to attend her funeral.

Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Labranche to life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence, and 40 years for the obstruction of justice. Judge Kovach ran the sentences consecutively.

Assistant District Attorneys Megan Gorman and Alyssa Aleman prosecuted the case.

 

Oswaldo Dachuna guilty of murdering man outside Kenner business

A Jefferson Parish jury on Monday (Nov. 18) deliberated less than ½-hour in finding Oswaldo Dacunha guilty of killing a man outside a Kenner convenience store, two hours after he drank beer with the victim beside the business.

Dacunha, 61, of Kenner, was convicted as charged of second-degree murder in the Sept. 3, 2022, death of Alejandro Quiroz, 43. Dacunha also was convicted of obstruction of justice, for eliminating the 9mm semiautomatic pistol he used to shoot Quiroz, evidence that could have further linked him to the crime.

Quiroz and another man were loitering beside the business at the intersection of Loyola and Clemson drives when at about 4 a.m., Dacunha shot him three times.

Kenner Police Department detectives amassed business and residential surveillance videos from the area to help identify Dacunha as the shooter. Through the videos, the detectives determined that about two hours before the shooting, Dacunha arrived at the business on a motorcycle and used a debit card to make at least two purchases in the store, including beer and beef jerky.

Dacunha drank at least one beer with Quiroz before departing on his motorcycle. About two hours later, Dacunha returned riding a bicycle and ducked beside a commercial trash receptacle behind the business. He retrieved a pistol from his backpack, chambered a round and stuffed the weapon in his pants waistband.

He then walked up to Quiroz and shot him in the chest, face and head before pedaling away.

“Those are the actions of a man who wants to kill,” Assistant District Attorney Molly Love told jurors in closing argument Monday.

Quiroz died a short while later at University Medical Center.

The videos detectives obtained showed the shooter wore the same clothes he was wearing two hours earlier, when he arrived at the business on a motorcycle. Lacking a name, Kenner police issued a press release that included the shooter’s image taken from videos and posted it on social media platforms. Detectives received two tips, both identifying Dacunha.

The detectives then researched Dacunha’s name and found a prior arrest with a booking photograph, confirming he was the shooter. They learned he had been living in a backyard shed in the 3200 block of Arkansas Avenue in Kenner. They obtained a warrant for his arrest.

Dacunha was arrested in Vinton, La., on Sept. 9, 2022, after police there investigated a suspicious suspect complaint. They found Dacunha lying on the ground next to his motorcycle.

In his pocket was the debit card he used to make the purchases at the Kenner convenience store two hours before he shot Quiroz. In his cell phone, they found photographs of motorcycles, bicycles and of the image of himself that Kenner police released to the public in the effort to identify the shooter.

Dacunha’s DNA also was recovered from a beer bottle police recovered from feet away from Quiroz’s body.

Dacunha, who represented himself without legal representation, or pro se, told jurors he was falsely identified as the shooter. He said he was “at the wrong place, at the wrong time.”

Assistant District Attorney Leo Aaron praised the work done by the two Kenner police detectives who identified Dacunha as the killer. “Arthur Coll and Peter Foltz did great work in bringing him here before you,” Aaron told jurors in closing argument.

“This was not a case of mistaken identity,” Aaron told jurors. “He was not at the wrong place, at the wrong time. He chose the place, he chose the time.”

The jury that was seated last week returned with its verdict at 3:40 p.m., Monday. Judge Nancy Miller of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Dacunha on Dec. 2.

Assistant District Attorneys Leo Aaron and Molly Love prosecuted the case.

 

A guilty plea, a jury verdict bring justice for murder victim Shannon Young

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (Nov. 13) sentenced Jenaj Nijay Johnson to a year of active probation after she admitted she helped her boyfriend avoid arrest when he fatally shot his longtime friend during a dice game in Marrero two years ago.

In pleading guilty as charged to accessory after the fact to second-degree murder, Johnson admitted she drove her boyfriend Larry Junior away from the scene after he fatally shot Shannon K. Young Jr., on Nov. 21, 2022.

A Jefferson Parish jury on July 11 found Junior, 24, of Marrero, guilty as charged of second-degree murder. Just two days before Junior killed him, Young, 22, of Ponchatoula, learned he was going to be a father.

On Sept. 9, Judge Lee Faulkner of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Junior to life in prison without probation, parole or suspension of sentence, and to five years in prison for his conviction of obstruction of justice because he removed the murder weapon from the scene to hinder the investigation.

Johnson’s case was unresolved until Wednesday, when the 22-year-old Chalmette resident appeared in Judge Faulkner’s court to plead guilty. Judge Faulkner sentenced Johnson to one year in prison. He suspended the prison term and ordered her to serve one year of active probation.

Junior and Young were among four friends who were helping one of the friends move furniture into a home in the 600 block of Grovewood Drive. During breaks in moving furniture, Junior and Young played dice for money while their two friends played video games.

Young won most of the games and teased Junior about it. That led Junior to make a remark about Young’s younger sister, heightening tensions between the men.

At one point, Junior called his girlfriend, Johnson, asking her to pick him up. Before long, Junior and Young engaged in a physical fight, during which Young, who weighed almost 225 pounds, threw the 140-pound Junior into a wall, damaging the drywall board. One of their friends intervened. The tussle ended.

But Junior then brandished a pistol, told Young they were no longer friends and demanded the money he lost in gambling. Without saying anything, Young walked out of the house and to his car. Junior then fired one shot at Young, missing him.

After hearing the gunshot, Young hid behind his car. Junior returned to the inside of the house and shut the door behind him. But about 20 seconds later, he exited through a side door and climbed atop a fence. Unaware that Junior was atop a fence, Young thought he was in the clear and so stepped out from behind the car.

That’s when Junior fired a second shot. The bullet struck Young in the left side of his neck, killing him.

Junior then got into the car with Johnson, and she drove away. They returned, leading Junior’s two friends to run in fear. Junior and Johnson left again. The two friends called 911.

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office obtained a warrant for Junior’s arrest shortly after the murder. A U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force located and arrested Junior and Johnson eight days later at Johnson’s mother’s home in Chalmette.

Johnson was booked and later charged with being an accessory after the fact to second-degree murder.

At his trial, Junior alleged self-defense, saying that Young was arming himself, so he grabbed a pistol as well. He alleged that it was Young who was losing the dice game and wanted to win back his money. But Junior said he wanted to leave, leading to the hostilities.

The state argued that Junior was the aggressor, and as such he could not assert self-defense. Junior could have departed when Johnson responded to his call and arrived at the house. But he remained at the house, belying his assertion that he feared for his safety.

“He brought a gun to a fistfight, and to an argument,” Assistant District Attorney Leo Aaron told jurors during Junior’s trial in July. “That is the essence of being an aggressor.”

Further challenging the self-defense assertion, a crime scene reconstruction expert told jurors that the bullet trajectory through Young’s body shows he was shot by a gunman firing from a high vantage point, and that he was shot from the side.

Jurors deliberated just over four hours in finding Junior guilty as charged.

Assistant District Attorneys Leo Aaron and Molly Love prosecuted the case.

Patricia Tito pleads guilty, gets life in prison for Grand Isle murder

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (Nov. 13) sentenced Patricia Tito to life in prison, after she pleaded guilty to murdering a Grand Isle man who went missing in 1984.

In closing out one of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office’s cold-case investigations, Tito, 60, pleaded guilty as charged to the second-degree murder of Lester Rome. A one-time companion of Tito’s, his skeletal remains were discovered in a north Louisiana well two years after he went missing.

Rome was 57 years old and the owner of a lounge on Grand Isle when he was last seen on Jan. 9, 1984. Tito, then a teenager who was Rome’s live-in girlfriend, continued operating the lounge in his absence. She continued to live in his home and drove his car until his brother arrived on the island and evicted her.

Tito had told residents that she was the last person to see Rome, and that she had driven him to the airport for a trip. Tito had told another woman that she had acquired ownership of Rome’s business, that he had given the lounge to her and left the state.

The Sheriff’s Office considered her a suspect in his disappearance, but the investigation was suspended because Rome’s body could not be found.

His remains were found in a well on farmland just outside Many, La., in 1986 but were not identified until 2021. The Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office investigation focused on Tito. By then, she was serving a 40-year prison sentence for her 2007 guilty plea to manslaughter – she admitted killing a Shreveport woman, whom she shot on Aug. 31, 2003.

The Sheriff’s Office joined in the Sabine Parish investigation in 2021. Tito had told a Sabine Parish detective she was aware that Rome was murdered but that she was merely a witness to it. She blamed another man for killing Rome, over what she said was a drug debt. She further said that the murder occurred in Jefferson Parish.

In 2022, Tito then was returned to Jefferson Parish to be questioned in Rome’s homicide. She eventually alleged that she and Rome were entering into a business relationship, and that he made sexual advances toward her. The business arrangement collapsed, and Rome was killed shortly after, she told a detective.

Tito was indicted by a Jefferson Parish grand jury with the second-degree murder of Rome in December 2023.

On Wednesday, Tito pleaded guilty as charged to second-degree murder over the objection of her court-appointed attorney. She pleaded guilty under North Carolina v Alford, wherein she stated that the guilty plea was in her best interest.

Judge Danyelle Taylor of the 24th Judicial District Court accepted Tito’s guilty plea. Tito waived delays, and Judge Taylor sentenced her to the mandatory life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys David Wolff and Lindsay Truhe prosecuted the case.

Cody Labranche convicted of Metairie double-murder

A Jefferson Parish jury on Friday (Nov. 8) deliberated about 35 minutes in finding Cody Labranche guilty of murdering two men in their Metairie home, including his deceased sister’s longtime companion whom he blamed for her death.

Labranche, 30 of Ponchatoula, was convicted as charged of the first-degree murders of roommates Jonathan Pizzuto, 39, and William Mitchell, 36. He additionally was convicted of obstruction of justice.

Pizzuto had been in a long-term relationship with Labranche’s sister, Brittany, who overdosed in July 2020 in their home in the 600 block of Rosa Avenue. Labranche believes that Pizzuto was responsible for her death. Mitchell became Pizzuto’s roommate about two months before he was murdered.

On Jan. 17, 2022, Labranche drove from Ponchatoula to Metairie and, upon arrival at about 9 p.m., he entered the home through the unlocked side door. He walked through the kitchen and into the living room, where Pizzuto and Mitchell sat playing video games and began shooting.

Labranche then searched the apartment for the urn containing his sister’s ashes but did not find it. He fled with the dog Pizzuto and his sister owned, Dro, and later left it in Hazelhurst, Miss. Neither Dro nor the murder weapon has been found.

One of Pizzuto’s friends who was going to the home to play video games discovered the bodies on the living room floor and called 911. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office developed Labranche as a suspect after learning he held Pizzuto responsible for his sister’s death.

On the night of the murders, Labranche removed the license plate of the car he acquired from his sister after her death and drove to Rosa Avenue armed with the pistol with extended magazine. He left his cell phone in Ponchatoula in an apparent attempt to avoid its location services being used to establish a record of his whereabouts.

Detectives obtained surveillance video from neighboring residences showing the car pulling up to the residence. Labranche left the engine running and went inside. About a minute after he arrived, two nearby surveillance systems recorded the gunshots. Labranche then sped away and returned to Ponchatoula with Dro.

A U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force arrested Labranche at his home on Feb. 11, 2022. Labranche asserted self-defense, telling a detective that he went to confront Pizzuto about his sister’s death and believed Mitchell was reaching behind his back for a pistol. Labranche began shooting believing he was about to be shot, his attorneys argued at trial in asking jurors to conclude he was defending himself.

However, evidence shows that Labranche was the aggressor, and as such cannot assert self-defense. Ten .45-caliber bullet casings littered the living room floor, in a pattern indicating that Labranche began shooting as he entered the living room from the kitchen after entering the side door. He continued shooting as he crossed the room. “No hesitating in there,” Assistant District Attorney Megan Gorman told jurors.

Further, the victims’ bullet wounds to their front and back sides show they were sitting down when the gunfire began, and they turned to run. They were on the floor when Labranche finished them off, including Pizzuto, whose gunshot wounds include two the back of his neck next to a tattoo of Labranche’s sister’s name. Mitchell was shot in his front side and his back side and died holding his cell phone. All 10 of the bullets Labranche fired struck the victims in what the crime scene reconstruction expert describes as “focused fire.”

Labranche was charged with first-degree murder in part because he had the specific intent to kill more than one person, and that he did so during the commission of an aggravated burglary. The District Attorney’s Office did not seek the death penalty, meaning Labranche will receive a life sentence in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

In addition to the murder charges, Labranche was convicted of obstruction of justice because he eliminated evidence by disposing of the murder weapon, which he confessed to throwing in a river. Detectives found photos of the pistol on his cell phone, a firearm compatible with the bullet casings retrieved from the murder scene.

Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Labranche on Dec. 4.

Assistant District Attorneys Megan Gorman and Alyssa Aleman prosecuted the case.