Tag: murder

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.

Cade Fuxan guilty of murdering his roommate in Kenner

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday night (Feb. 1) convicted Cade Fuxan of killing his roommate, rejecting his assertion that he was defending himself when he shot James Parker five times in the apartment they shared in Kenner.

Fuxan, 26, is guilty as charged of second-degree murder, jurors unanimously decided after five hours of deliberation.

Parker, 22, died June 1, 2022 on the hallway floor inside in their apartment in the 4500 block of Williams Boulevard. Fuxan called 911, telling the operator he was defending himself.

The shooting was the culmination of months of hard feelings over a roommate’s intrusion into personal space, physical fights and hurt pride. Two days before the shooting, Parker bested Fuxan in a fight, leaving him with a black eye. Fuxan didn’t let it go.

“He had damaged pride. He had his feelings hurt. He was beaten up, and he couldn’t get over it.” – Assistant District Attorney Piper Didier

Fuxan fired five bullets at Parker. His wounds included one to the back of his head that severed his brain stem, an injury that dropped him to the floor unable to move. That bullet’s trajectory shows that Fuxan fired the pistol while standing over Parker, who was bent over toward the floor in a posture that belies claims of self-defense.

“That back-of-the-head shot is an execution shot,” Assistant District Attorney Piper Didier told jurors in opening statements Tuesday.

Fuxan and Parker shared the two-bedroom apartment with Fuxan’s girlfriend – who was Parker’s sister – and Parker’s brother. Parker’s siblings were at their jobs when he was killed.

Tensions in the apartment had been simmering for months. Parker owed Fuxan money for bills, so in October 2021, Fuxan removed Parker’s keyboard, computer and skateboard from his bedroom and wrote a note to Parker saying that it would get “ugly” if he tried to retrieve his property.

Two days before the shooting, Parker wrote a note to Fuxan, telling him to stay out of his bedroom. Fuxan went into Parker’s bedroom, found the note and wrote on it “F— around and find out.” He left it for Parker to find.

Upon reading it, Parker closed his door and was heard speaking dismissively about Fuxan. Fuxan went to Parker’s bedroom door, knocked on it and yelled. This led to a physical fight that left Fuxan with a black eye and superficial scratches.

That night, Parker sent a text message to Fuxan, apologizing and offering to move out. Parker wrote that he would continue to pay rent as long as his siblings could remain in the apartment.

The following day, Parker apologized to Fuxan in person. Parker’s brother sent a text message to Fuxan, saying he wanted everyone to get along. Fuxan responded, “just my pride hurt.” Later that night, Fuxan unpacked the Ruger 9mm semiautomatic pistol that he purchased a week earlier and said he was going to test fire it at Lake Pontchartrain.

In the hours before the shooting, Fuxan used his cellphone to photograph the injuries that Parker inflicted upon him. His text messages with family members showed both his anger over losing the fight and his unwillingness to let it happen again.

“He is not over that fight,” Assistant District Attorney Douglas Rushton told jurors in closing argument Thursday. “He’s sitting here documenting his injuries. June 1st. 12:36 (p.m.).”

Parker returned to the apartment from his job at about 5 p.m. and went to his bedroom. Fuxan placed his pistol in his pocket and went to Parker’s bedroom, supposedly in search of a pet cat. It was an act that he knew could reignite a fight. “And this time he was going to win,” Rushton told jurors. “And if he started losing again, he’s got his gun. It’s his backup plan. It’s the Plan B.”

At 9:14 p.m., Fuxan called 911 and told the operator he had just shot someone who was “running at” him.

Kenner Police Department officers found Parker’s body on the hallway floor and his bedroom in disarray, with a television knocked over and clumps of his braided hair littering the floor. A trail of bullet casings was strewn from the living room through the hallway. Bullet holes were found in the door frame, a door and walls.

Fuxan initially told police at the apartment that Parker attacked him with a hammer, so he shot and killed Parker. The hammer was on the hallway floor just outside Parker’s bedroom (The hammer belonged to Fuxan, who kept it in his bedroom).

He willingly went to Kenner police headquarters to speak with a detective and without having a lawyer. Once there, he abandoned the hammer-as-a-weapon assertion. He said he had been using the hammer to practice finding wall studs behind the drywall because he planned to work in the air conditioning business.

Fuxan then told the detective that he went into Parker’s room to find their cat because it needed medicine. As he stooped down to look for it under a bed, Parker attacked him, Fuxan told the detective.

Fuxan also told the detective that he was standing stationary in the apartment’s living room when he fired the pistol. However, his description is inconsistent with the evidence, such as where four of the five bullet cases landed in the hallway after they were ejected from his pistol and where bullets struck the hallway walls after passing through Parker’s body, an expert in crime scene reconstruction told jurors.

Kenner police booked Fuxan with manslaughter. A Jefferson Parish grand jury indicted him with second-degree murder.

Fuxan testified Thursday, accusing Parker of physically attacking him twice and maintaining he was defending himself. He asserted that he was only joking when he wrote “F— around and find out” on Parker’s note. He was so fearful for his safety in the apartment that he carried the pistol in his pocket on the night he and Parker were alone in the apartment, he said. His attorney told jurors that Fuxan had no duty to retreat in his home, alluding to the state’s stand-your-ground law. Fuxan also was “firing wildly” at Parker, the attorney told jurors.

Prosecutors argued that Fuxan was the aggressor who by law could not then claim self-defense. He was seething over having lost the fight, and then knowing that he and Parker would be alone, he armed himself and went to Parker’s bedroom.

“He had damaged pride,” Didier told jurors. “He had his feelings hurt. He was beaten up, and he couldn’t get over it.”

Judge Stephen Enright of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Fuxan on Feb. 26.

Assistant District Attorneys Piper Didier and Douglas Rushton 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.

Alonzo Ford convicted of two Marrero murders and other crimes

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday night (Nov. 30) found Alonzo Ford guilty as charged of fatally shooting two men in Marrero over a two-day period in 2019.

Ford, 48, of Marrero, was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of obstruction of justice and two counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He was acquitted of one count of attempted second-degree murder.

About 2:40 a.m., on March 30, 2019, Ford approached a sports-utility vehicle that was parked in the 6200 block of 2nd Avenue, in which Martin Hatten sat in the front passenger’s seat. Ford brandished a .38-caliber revolver and shot Hatten in the right side of his head.

The bullet passed through Hatten’s skull and struck a 51-year-old man in the neck, causing a superficial injury. This victim was the basis for the attempted murder charge for which Ford was acquitted.

Hatten died in a hospital on April 5, 2019. He was 50. Ford was seen arguing with Hatten at a neighborhood bar in Marrero on the night before the shooting.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives quickly identified Ford as the suspect in that shooting and obtained a warrant for his arrest. A detective was able to speak with Ford on a cell phone, and Ford said he would surrender. He failed to do so.

About 36 hours after Ford shot Hatten, on April 1, 2019, the detectives tracked Ford to the 6300 block of Acre Road.

A detective driving an unmarked police vehicle spotted Ford standing with another man in a bay of an Acre Road car wash business at Buccola Avenue. As the detective circled the block, he radioed other deputies who already were converging on the area.

But before the deputies arrived, Ford shot that man in the head. Amid calls placed to 911, the deputies found Laurence Hensley slumped over in the car wash bay and noted passers-by using their cell phones to take photographs of the fatally wounded man.

Hensley died the following day. He was 55. Detectives later determined that Hensley witnessed Ford shooting Hatten.

Ford, meanwhile, fled that scene in a pickup truck but was caught moments later several blocks away on Cohen Street, where he attempted to elude deputies on foot. As he ran, he tossed the revolver and the brown hooded jacket he was wearing when he shot Hensley. A police canine located the revolver in overgrown grass next to a Cohen Street fence.

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, a year before he killed Hatten and Hensley.

His convictions of obstruction of justice are based on his discarding the murder weapon and jacket. From the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna after his arrest, Ford had a telephone conversation with someone in which he asked that person to retrieve the revolver, unaware that the Sheriff’s Office already found it.

Ford denied committing the killings. His defense attorney argued that drug dealers framed Ford and that another man who cooperated with detectives and prosecutors in identifying Ford was the actual killer.

The jury that was seated Monday night deliberated for more than three hours before returning with its verdict at about 11 p.m., Thursday. Judge June Berry Darensburg of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Ford on Jan. 11.

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

Kemon ‘Tut’ Howard convicted of murdering teen outside Terrytown Library

A Jefferson Parish jury on Wednesday night (Nov. 15) found Kemon “Tut” Howard guilty as charged of fatally shooting another teen in the face as he sat in a car on a Terrytown street.

Howard, 20, of Harvey, committed the second-degree murder of Ronnie Brown, 19, of New Orleans, jurors announced after an hour of deliberation. Howard was 17 when he killed Brown and was prosecuted as an adult.

At about 10 a.m. on Jan. 24, 2021, the two teens, who had been acquaintances since childhood, met outside Terrytown Library in the 600 block of Heritage Place to discuss exchanging a pistol. Across the street from the library is Terrytown Playground, where on that Sunday morning about 200 people were gathered inside the gymnasium for an event.

Brown, who drove to the West Bank with his 18-year-old girlfriend in the front passenger’s seat, initially parked in the library’s parking lot. Howard approached the parking lot on foot. Brown then pulled onto Heritage Avenue adjacent to the parking lot and asked Howard to get into the car.

Without provocation, Howard pulled out a pistol, extended his arm into the opened driver’s window and fired three bullets, striking Brown in his face and elsewhere on his body.

Mortally wounded, Brown climbed into the back seat and then out of the car through a rear door. He left the car in drive, and as it rolled up the street, Brown’s girlfriend picked up his pistol, leaned out the driver’s window and fired once at Howard in self-defense. The car struck a light post next to the library and came to a stop.

Brown, meanwhile, ran up the street to his girlfriend, pointing to his mouth. He was unable to speak because a 9mm bullet punched through his upper lip and traveled through his mouth and his neck and into his chest. He then collapsed and died in the street.

Howard fled on foot into the playground and escaped. Numerous people called 911, but callers could only provide general descriptions of the shooter’s build and clothing. Brown’s girlfriend only knew Howard through his nickname, “Tut.” Much of the incident was recorded by the security cameras at the library and a nearby home.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives identified Howard as the shooter, in part through his social media communication with Brown, and arrested him two days later.

Howard’s attorneys argued self-defense, asserting that Brown lay in wait in the back seat of a car that their client did not recognize. The attorneys alleged that Brown’s girlfriend was driving the car, which had been stolen in New Orleans, and that Brown was armed with a pistol that also was stolen in New Orleans.

Judge Stephen Enright of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Howard on Dec. 18.

Assistant District Attorneys Carolyn Chkautovich and Brittany Beckner Heckford prosecuted the case.

Charles Ross convicted of first-degree murder for killing his ex-girlfriend in Metairie

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday (Nov. 2) found Charles Ross guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend in her Metairie apartment while her special needs daughter watched.

Ross, 45, robbed a man of his pickup truck in Baton Rouge and drove to the 100 block of Houma Boulevard, where at about 3 a.m., on June 3, 2021, he kicked open Nygia Lambert’s apartment door and shot her eight times as she hid under her bed pleading for her life.

Lambert’s 24-year-old daughter locked herself in the bathroom and called 911, telling the operator, “Mr. Ross killed my mom.” Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies found Lambert’s lifeless, naked body. She was 47, the mother of five daughters and the grandmother of one child.

For that, he was convicted as charged of first-degree murder. The District Attorney’s Office did not seek the death penalty, meaning life in prison is the mandatory punishment. Jurors also found Ross guilty of attempted obstruction of justice, for fleeing with the murder weapon.

A convicted felon who served time in prison for beating a previous girlfriend and was legally barred from possessing firearms, Ross armed himself with a 9mm semiautomatic pistol and carjacked a man in Baton Rouge. He succeeded in eluding police officers who pursued him.

In testimony Thursday, Ross told jurors that upon learning Lambert ended their relationship, he went on a cocaine binge. From the witness stand, he openly admitted he killed Lambert. His attorneys asked jurors to consider convicting him of manslaughter, a lesser homicide that carries a punishment of up to 40 years in prison and involves a killing “committed in sudden passion or heat of blood immediately caused by provocation sufficient to deprive an average person of his self-control and cool reflection.”

However, the state argued that Ross’ actions bely that of manslaughter. His text messages show that a full 12 hours before he killed Lambert, Ross told another woman that, “I’m going to f— this girl up.”

When Louisiana State Police arrested Ross in Baton Rouge, he was in possession of the murder weapon and the keys to the pickup truck he stole.

The jury that was selected on Tuesday deliberated about 1 ½ hours Thursday before returning with its verdicts. Judge Stephen Grefer of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Ross on Nov. 13.

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Africk and Blaine Moncrief prosecuted the case.

After ‘Ramos’ retrial, Dartanya Spottsville sentenced to back-to-back life sentences for two West Bank murders

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (Oct. 11) ordered Dartanya Spottsville to serve back-to-back life sentences in prison, plus another 50 years, for his role in a shooting inside a Harvey apartment that left two men dead and a third injured on Father’s Day 2015.

Spottsville, 35, of Marrero, was convicted as charged by a jury on Sept. 7 of two counts of second-degree murder, one count of attempted second-degree murder and one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

Click here to read about the trial.

Wednesday marked the second time Spottsville was sentenced for the crimes. He was convicted as charged of all counts by a jury in 2019. But the jury was not unanimous. As such, Spottsville received a new trial after the U.S. Supreme Court opined in its Ramos v. Louisiana decision that nonunanimous verdicts are unconstitutional.

Spottsville was one of three men who entered an apartment in the 1600 block of Apache Drive on June 21, 2015. Gunfire erupted, leaving Johnell Ovide and Trammell Marshall dead. They were ages 23 and 21, respectively. The surviving victim, who was 23 at the time, was shot three times, including once in his face.

Citing the seriousness of the homicides and the seriousness of the injuries the surviving victim sustained, 24th Judicial District Judge Stephen Grefer on Wednesday sentenced Spottsville to two consecutive life sentences, to be served consecutively to the 50-year sentence he gave for the attempted second-degree murder.

Judge Grefer also sentenced Spotsville to 10 years for the firearm charge. Spottsville was prohibited from possessing firearms because of a conviction of heroin possession in Jefferson Parish.

Assistant District Attorneys Matthew Clauss and Blaine Moncrief prosecuted the case.