Tag: murder

Dennis Sheppard guilty of murdering girlfriend by using zip tie to strangle her

A Jefferson Parish jury has convicted Dennis Sheppard of murdering his girlfriend by using a plastic zip tie around her neck to strangle her.

Sheppard, 60, of Harvey, is guilty as charged of the second-degree murder of Jyra Holmes, the jury unanimously decided during 36 minutes of deliberation on Thursday (Sept. 28).

He killed Holmes, 39, on Nov. 2, 2020, during a domestic dispute outside her apartment the 1500 block of Chelsea Road in Harvey. He put the zip tie around her neck and pushed her to the ground, witnesses told detectives.

“She wanted me dead; now she’s dead,” Sheppard said after killing Holmes, according to two witnesses.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived to find her lifeless body in the driveway with a zip tie around her neck.

A U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force located and arrested Sheppard three days later in Bay St. Louis, Miss.

Through his public defender, Sheppard denied committing a second-degree murder. Rather, the defense attorney asserted that at best, Sheppard was guilty of manslaughter, a lesser homicide committed in the heat of passion that carries a maximum of 40 years in prison.

Judge June Berry Darensburg of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Sheppard on Oct. 30. Second-degree murder carries a mandatory punishment of life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Kristen Landrieu and Carolyn Chkautovich prosecuted the case.

Daniel Tenner sentenced to life plus 139 years for murdering Mississippi woman

A Jefferson Parish judge on Friday (Sept. 15) sentenced Daniel Tenner to life plus 139 years in prison for his conviction of killing a Mississippi woman while robbing her during a cell phone sale they arranged through social media.

Tenner, 21, of Jackson, Miss., shot Morgan Tyrone in the back of her head after she drove from her home in Pascagoula, Miss., to the West Bank to purchase an iPhone 13 for $300 on the evening of April 10, 2022. She died in the driver’s seat of her minivan.

Tyrone was 24. She was murdered in front of her partner and her partner’s 13-month-old son who was in a child seat.

Tenner used a woman’s Facebook account to communicate with Tyrone via Facebook Marketplace. Tyrone believed she was negotiating the purchase with a woman.

A Jefferson Parish jury on Aug. 15 found Tenner guilty as charged of first-degree murder, armed robbery and obstruction of justice in connection with the crimes.

Click here to read about the trial and conviction.

Tenner appeared Friday before 24th Judicial District Judge Donald “Chick” Foret to receive the sentences.

Tyrone’s older brother, mother and partner provided victim-impact testimony. Before announcing the sentence, Judge Foret praised the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office homicide detectives for quickly solving the case and lectured Tenner, referring from the 29 pages of notes he said he jotted down during the trial.

Judge Foret noted testimony from the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy: Tenner placed the pistol barrel to Tyrone’s neck and fired, the bullet severing her spinal cord and killing her instantly. He noted that Tenner shot the woman in front of her partner and the toddler. “This is as bad as it gets, Mr. Tenner,” Judge Foret said.

The punishment for first-degree murder is mandatory life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. Judge Foret sentenced Tenner to 99 years for the armed robbery and 40 years for the obstruction of justice – both the maximum sentences. Judge Foret ran the sentences consecutively, or back-to-back.

“If I could give you more, I’d give you more,” Judge Foret told Tenner. “This is a tragic thing you’ve done. You’ve ruined these peoples’ lives.”

The District Attorney’s Office did not seek the death penalty.

Assistant District Attorneys LaShanda Webb and Brittany Beckner prosecuted the case.

Dartanya Spottsville convicted again of Father’s Day 2015 attack that left two dead, one injured

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday night (Sept. 7) found Dartanya O. Spottsville guilty of his role in the murders of a pair of cousins who were shot during an apparent ambush inside a West Bank apartment on Father’s Day 2015.

Spottsville, 35, of Marrero, was convicted as charged of two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Johnell Ovide and Trammell Marshall, one count of attempted second-degree murder in the shooting of another man and one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

His conviction brings to two the number of times he’s been found guilty of the crimes.

The first time Spottsville was convicted was in September 2019. Jurors in that trial did not return with unanimous verdicts. The following year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in an unrelated case, Ramos v. Louisiana, that non-unanimous verdicts are unconstitutional. As a result of the Ramos decision, Spottsville received a new trial.

About 10 p.m., on June 21, 2015, Spottsville and two friends — Jacobie Green and Johnell Walker, both of whom were armed — arrived unexpected at a small, one-bedroom apartment in the 1600 block of Apache Drive, just off Manhattan Boulevard in Harvey. Spottsville and Walker sat on sofas in the living room. Green stood in the doorway, the only way out of the apartment.

Ovide, Marshall and two other men already were at the apartment. At least two of those men had pistols.

Ovide allowed Spottsville to handle his pistol. After doing so, Spottsville handed the pistol back to Ovide. Spottsville then held the pistol owned by the surviving victim. For unknown reasons and without provocation, Spottsville shot Ovide and then shot the surviving victim. Chaos ensued, with Green and Walker, immediately opening fire and striking the three victims.

The 23-year-old man who rented the apartment fled into his bedroom and dove through a closed window to escape. At the same time, Spottsville ran past Green and out of the apartment, likely in pursuit of the renter who was able to escape. Marshall ran into the kitchen, followed by Green and Walker, and more shots were fired there.

By the time the gunfire ended, Ovide, 23, was shot three times, with one of the bullets piercing both lungs and his heart. Marshall, 21, was shot five times; three of those bullets struck his body from the rear. The surviving victim was shot three times, including once in the face.

Spottsville, Green and Walker fled and were not injured.

Hiding nearby in the apartment complex, the renter who escaped called 911. The first Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived two minutes later to find the three gunshot victims outside the apartment. Ovide lay dead or dying in the grass near Marshall, who died a short while later at a hospital. The third victim sat leaning against the apartment’s entry doorframe.

Detectives immediately identified Spottsville as a suspect and obtained an arrest warrant. Spottsville surrendered the following day.

Spottsville initially denied involvement and told detectives that he was in New Orleans East when the shooting occurred. But detectives refuted the alibi assertion by using his cell phone to show that he was, in fact, near the murder scene when the shooting occurred. His cell phone data showed he went to New Orleans East only after the shooting.

In testimony Thursday, Spottsville admitted he lied to detectives about being in New Orleans East. Explaining why he fired a pistol, he asserted self-defense. He told jurors he was sitting on a sofa looking at his phone when he looked up to find a pistol pointed at him. During a tussle for the pistol, it fired, he testified. He wrestled the pistol away, fired it once at the surviving victim, dropped it and fled, Spottsville told jurors. He heard more gunfire as he ran to his car, he asserted.

Under cross-examination, Spottsville was pressed on why he raised self-defense only after his alibi effort failed. He was questioned about why the pistol he said he dropped in the living room was never found. And he was asked about why his and Green’s cell phone data showed they left the murder scene and went straight to Lake Pontchartrain’s Lincoln Beach in New Orleans East.

In rebuttal, prosecutors provided expert witness testimony to show that three bullet casings were found in the living room that were fired by the pistol that Spottsville said was fired only twice. Further, the location of the ejected bullet casings in the living room was consistent with where two witnesses said Spottsville stood when he shot Ovide and then the surviving victim. The evidence shows that all but one of the bullets that the trio fired in the apartment struck victims; the other bullet struck a wall.

Spottsville, Green and Walker were prosecuted as principals to the murders, meaning they were working in concert with each other in committing the crimes. A look at the convictions shows:

  • Green, 31, of New Orleans, was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted second-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without probation, parole or suspension of sentence in September 2018.
  • Walker, 29, of Marrero, was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted second-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without probation, parole or suspension of sentence in October 2021. Nine days after he was sentenced, Walker was found unresponsive at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
  • Archie Hulbert III, 39, of Algiers, pleaded guilty as charged to perjury in February 2018 and received a 7-year prison sentence. He admitted to lying to detectives about the time Green arrived at a Terrytown location after the murders occurred.

The jury that was seated on Monday deliberated almost four hours Thursday before unanimously convicting Spottsville of the murder and attempted murder counts, and for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He was prohibited from possessing guns because of a previous conviction of heroin possession in Jefferson Parish.

Judge Stephen Grefer of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Spottsville on Oct. 11.

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

 

Daniel Tenner convicted of murdering Mississippi woman during West Bank armed robbery

A Jefferson Parish jury on Tuesday night (Aug. 15) convicted Daniel Tenner of killing a Mississippi woman while robbing her during a cell phone sale arranged through social media.

Tenner, 21, of Jackson, Miss., is guilty as charged of the first-degree murder of Morgan Tyrone, 24, of Pascagoula, Miss., jurors unanimously decided after three hours of deliberations.

On the evening of April 10, 2022, Tyrone, her 22-year-old partner and their 13-month-old son traveled from Pascagoula to the West Bank so Tyrone could purchase an iPhone 13 for $300. Tyrone and a person she believed was a woman had been discussing the transaction through Facebook Marketplace. It was Tenner using a woman’s Facebook account.

Tenner directed Tyrone to an apartment complex in the 300 block of Friedrichs Road in unincorporated Gretna. There, Tenner approached the Tyrone’s minivan’s driver’s side window. During the ensuing discussion, he showed the phone he purportedly wanted to sell. He asked if they had the money and then asked if they had a tool with which he could remove the phone’s SIM card.

During that time, Tyrone and Tenner were hesitant to exchange the cash and phone. Growing doubtful that the transaction would occur, Tyrone turned away to put the cash on the minivan’s center console. That’s when Tenner brandished the pistol, pointed it at the left rear side of Tyrone’s head and shot her without provocation.

He then pointed the pistol at Tyrone’s partner in the front passenger’s seat and demanded the cash. He reached over Tyrone’s body to grab the cash and then ran away.

Tyrone’s partner called 911, but not knowing where she was, she flagged a passerby who was able to give the 911 operator their location.

Immediately after shooting Tyrone, Tenner fled to a nearby apartment and then to Jackson, Miss. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office received a tip via Crimestoppers identifying Tenner as the killer and giving his location. A U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force found and arrested Tenner in Jackson on May 17, 2022.

Sheriff’s Office detectives confirmed Tenner’s whereabouts, including placing him at the murder scene and fleeing north toward Jackson, by using his cell phone records.

During the 1 ½-hour interview with a detective, Tenner confessed. At its conclusion, the detective left Tenner alone in the room with pen and paper. Tenner penned a statement in which he admitted shooting Tyrone but asserted he did so because she “was grabbing something” or thought she was taking his iPhone. “I was giving the phone to you guys for a cheap price,” he wrote. “Yes, I am truly sorry with what happen [sic]. I am. I didn’t mean for nothing like that to happen.”

Jurors watched a video recording of that interview and read Tenner’s statement.

Tenner’s public defenders argued their client was not guilty. They asserted that he was armed because he was meeting strangers at night. Tenner became fearful when Tyrone turned away from him, the defense asserted. They also described it as “a tragic accident.” They said that Tenner did not have specific intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm, which are necessary elements of proving murder.

In closing argument Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney LaShanda Webb reminded jurors that Tenner threatened to kill Tyrone’s partner if she didn’t give him the cash.

“What more do you need to prove intent?” Webb argued. “If it wasn’t about robbery, why would he even take the money? Why would he reach over Morgan, who he just killed, to take the money?”

In addition to the murder, jurors found Tenner guilty of armed robbery and obstruction of justice – for discarding the firearm he used to kill Tyrone.

Judge Donald “Chick” Foret of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Tenner to a mandatory life sentence in prison on Sept. 15. The District Attorney’s Office did not seek the death penalty.

Assistant District Attorneys LaShanda Webb and Brittany Beckner prosecuted the case.

 

Lamonte Loggins convicted of murdering Kenner store clerk during armed robbery

A Jefferson Parish jury on Wednesday evening (July 26) convicted Lamonte Loggins of standing over a helpless convenience store clerk during an armed robbery in Kenner and firing a 9mm bullet into his chest, killing him.

Loggins, 30, of Kenner, is guilty as charged of the first-degree murder of Abd El Ghader Sylla, 30. Sylla, whose wife was pregnant with their child, was working the overnight shift at the business at Williams Boulevard and West Esplanade Avenue when Loggins shot him.

Mortally wounded, Sylla still was able to call 911, saying he was “about to die.”

“I got shot. I got robbed, and I got shot,” he told the 911 operator before dropping the phone. He died from his injury soon after at a New Orleans hospital.

Loggins and his older brother, Eric Rodgers, planned the armed robbery and cased the business hours earlier. About 2 a.m., on Nov. 30, 2020, Rodgers entered the store, followed by Loggins. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they wore masks.

After pouring a cup of coffee and discussing liquor with Sylla, Loggins brandished a 9mm pistol and demanded cash. As he pulled out the pistol, a latex glove fell out of his pocket – Loggins’ DNA later was found on that glove.

Sylla dropped to his knees and held his hands over his head as he complied with Loggins’ demands. Sylla opened the register and removed the cash drawer so Loggins could get the money.

Without being provoked, Loggins then walked around the counter and began beating Sylla in the head with the pistol. Sylla fell onto his back as the beating continued. Loggins stood back and fired the bullet into Sylla’s chest, even as the victim pleadingly held his hands in the air in front of him.

Loggins and Rodgers fled to their car parked blocks away, as Sylla, still on his back on the floor behind the counter, called 911. He remained there until Kenner Police Department officers arrived.

During the ensuing investigation, Kenner Police Department detectives used numerous businesses’ and residences’ video surveillance cameras to track the suspects’ movement from the crime scene to the Lorie Drive apartment complex where both men lived.

But Loggins and Rodgers had gone to Biloxi, Miss., where they spent a night in a hotel and where Loggins threw the pistol into a business’s garbage receptacle. The following day, they caught bus to Memphis, Tenn., where they previously lived.

More than a week later, Rodgers called the Kenner Police Department. He told the lead case detective, Aaron Savoie, that Loggins killed Sylla. Federal marshals and local police arrested Loggins in Memphis on Dec. 8, 2020.

Rodgers, 32, pleaded guilty on Sept. 28, 2022 to manslaughter, obstruction of justice and armed robbery for his role in the crime. He received a 40-year sentence.

On Tuesday, as part of a plea agreement, Rodgers testified that he and Loggins planned the robbery, and that he was a participant because his government unemployment assistance hadn’t been credited to his debit card. But Rodgers testified that he did not know Loggins was going to shoot the clerk.

Under cross-examination by Loggins’ public defender, Rodgers was accused of urging Loggins to shoot Sylla. Rodgers, who has distinctive tattoos on his forehead and hands, was a regular customer at the business and could be easily identified, Loggins’ attorney argued. The defense attorney also argued that the state did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the gunshot killed Sylla, suggesting that  the medical treatment the victim received at the hospital could have caused his death.

The jury deliberated about an hour before returning with its verdicts. In addition to first-degree murder, jurors found Loggins guilty as charged of obstruction of justice, for tossing the murder weapon in a business’s garbage receptacle in Biloxi. Loggins also tossed the bullets from that pistol in a drainage canal in Kenner before he and Rodgers fled the state.

Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Loggins Aug. 9.

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

 

Convicted of murdering Harvey teen, Ivory Franklin sentenced to life again in ‘Ramos’ retrial

A Jefferson Parish judge on Tuesday (July 18) sentenced Ivory Franklin to life in prison plus 40 years for his convictions of murder and attempted murder.

It brings to two the number of times that Franklin, 25, has been convicted and sentenced for killing Reginald Black, 17, in Harvey seven years ago, and trying to kill Black’s 15-year-old nephew. The trio, who were close friends, were walking to a convenience store about 3 a.m., when Franklin brandished a pistol and shot Black in the back of his head.

In 2018, a non-unanimous Jefferson Parish jury convicted Franklin as charged of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder for the crimes. However, because of the jury’s non-unanimity, Franklin received a new trial after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in its 2020 decision, Ramos v. Louisiana, that non-unanimous verdicts are unconstitutional.

Franklin was convicted again in March, this time by a unanimous jury. And for a second time, 24th Judicial District Judge Donnie Rowan sentenced Franklin to mandatory life in prison for the second-degree murder of Black, and to 40 years in prison for the attempted second-degree murder of the 15-year-old.

“I don’t know why an individual would kill someone who was like a brother to them,” Judge Rowan told Franklin in handing down the consecutive sentences.

Franklin was 18 years old in May 2016, when he shot Black in the back of his head as they walked along the drainage canal bank in Harvey’s Woodmere subdivision. The 15-year-old ran for his life while Franklin shot at him, too. That teenager was able to alert a nearby homeowner, who called the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant District Attorneys Douglas Rushton and Stephen Downer prosecuted Franklin.

Shawn Chiasson pleads guilty as charged to murdering ex-girlfriend

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (July 5) sentenced Shawn Chiasson to spend the rest of his life in prison after the defendant abruptly ended his murder trial and pleaded guilty as charged to killing his estranged girlfriend.

Chiasson, 28, of Marrero, pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Lindsey Williams, 29, by shooting her once in the left side of her head in the bedroom of her home in the 1100 block of Gaudet Drive. He then fled, leaving her 11-year-old son behind with his dying mother on the morning of Aug. 14, 2021.

The jury that was seated last week returned to 24th Judicial District Judge Ray Steib’s courtroom on Wednesday to hear testimony. Jurors heard the state’s opening statement. Jurors heard testimony from Williams’ mother and were midway through the direct examination of Chiasson’s ex-girlfriend when he decided to plead guilty.

In addition to second-degree murder, Chiasson pleaded guilty as charged to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and to obstruction of justice. He was prohibited from possessing firearms because of a 2021 conviction of possession of heroin. After he shot Williams, Chiasson fled to Westwego, where he dumped the pistol along a canal bank – leading to the obstruction of justice charge.

Judge Steib sentenced Chiasson to the mandatory life sentence for the murder, 20 years for the firearm charge and 40 for the obstruction of justice. He ran the sentences concurrently.

On the night before her death, Williams gathered with friends at a downtown Gretna restaurant and then on the Mississippi River levee. Chiasson arrived and texted her, “I’m looking dead at you.”

Just before 9 a.m., the following morning, her son was in his bedroom when he heard something across the hall in his mother’s bedroom. He opened the door and saw Chiasson with blood on his hands.

Chiasson then used the child’s cell phone to call 911, telling the operator that his name was “Jake,” and saying someone had been shot. Chiasson fled, and the child waited on the front porch for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office to arrive.

Following his arrest two days later, Chiasson told detectives that the pistol accidentally fired as he removed it from his pants’ waistband.

Chiasson’s public defender waived giving an opening statement Wednesday. Chiasson’s ex-girlfriend was the second witness, who was called to testify about a 2017 incident in which he beat her while she was eight months pregnant. She refused to answer a prosecutor’s questions Wednesday and faced a contempt hearing. It was while she was on the witness stand that Chiasson told his public defender that he would plead guilty as charged.

Jurors briefly left the courtroom on Wednesday, unaware that Chiasson was pleading guilty. Judge Steib called the jurors back to his courtroom and told him about the guilty plea. The jurors voluntarily remained in court to hear victim impact testimony and to see Chiasson sentenced.

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

 

Jose Robles Marques guilty of murdering his sister’s boyfriend in Gretna

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday (June 22) found Jose Robles Marques guilty of shooting his sister’s boyfriend to death in his Gretna home last year.

Marques, 43, was convicted as charged of the second-degree murder of Jose Salomon Fernandez Barrientos, 42, in a bedroom of his home in 1700 block of Newton Street on March 1, 2022.

Fernandez and Marques’ sister were arguing in their bedroom when Marques approached the doorway with a six-shot .38-caliber revolver and opened fire. Fernandez was sitting on a bed when he was struck by at least five of the bullets. He died on the bed.

At trial, Marques’ defense lawyers argued he was defending his sister, whom he asserted was the victim of a domestic violence act in the past. The lawyers asserted that Marques heard arguing, thought his sister was in danger and shot Fernandez. As such, it was a justifiable homicide, they said.

However, there was no evidence indicating that Marques reasonably believed his sister was in imminent danger, a necessary element of justifiable homicide.

In his statement to Gretna police after the incident, Marques indicated that when he entered the Fernandez’s bedroom, which he shared with Marques’ sister, Marques had already retrieved the firearm and loaded it.  Additionally, Marques stated that he observed the victim and his sister separate prior to his firing the weapon until he ran out of bullets. As such, his shooting Fernandez was neither reasonable nor necessary.

“Being angry, being upset, that’s not justifiable homicide,” Assistant District Attorney Eric Cusimano told jurors Thursday in closing argument.

Jurors deliberated about one hour, 15 minutes before returning with their unanimous verdict at 5 p.m., Thursday. Judge Nancy Miller of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Marques on Wednesday (June 28). Life in prison without parole, probation or suspension of sentence is the mandatory punishment for second-degree murder under Louisiana law.

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

 

 

In ‘Ramos’ retrial, Ivory Franklin convicted anew in Harvey teen’s murder

A Jefferson Parish jury on Wednesday night (March 29) found Ivory Franklin guilty of shooting a teenager in the back of his head as they walked along a Harvey drainage canal bank. Franklin also was convicted of attempting to kill a second teenager in the same shooting.

Franklin, 25, of Harvey, is guilty as charged of the second-degree murder of Reginald Black, 17, and the attempted second-degree murder of Black’s 15-year-old nephew, jurors unanimously decided after two hours of deliberations.

This marked the third time Franklin stood trial for the killings. In October 2017, a jury could not reach a legal verdict, resulting in a mistrial. The following year, a second trial was held. He was convicted as charged. He received a life sentence plus 40 years.

However, Franklin was granted a new trial in September 2020, after the U.S. Supreme Court decided in its Ramos v. Louisiana decision that non-unanimous jury verdicts are unconstitutional. The jury in Franklin’s second trial did not return with unanimous verdicts.

About 3 a.m., on May 5, 2016, Franklin, then 18, and the victims were walking along the canal’s concrete embankment behind homes on Windmere Court in the Woodmere subdivision, en route to a convenience store. They were walking in a single-file line, with Black in the front and the 15-year-old in the rear.

Black asked for a light for his cigarette when Franklin pulled the revolver out from his waistband and fired once into the back of Black’s head. He then turned to the 15-year-old behind him and began shooting. One bullet ricocheted off the concrete embankment.

In testimony Wednesday, the victim stared unflinchingly at Franklin as he described seeing Black shot to death. He leapt into the canal water and emerged on the other side to seek help by banging on a resident’s front door. That resident called 911. Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies who responded found Black lying face-down on the canal bank.

Franklin denied it. He blamed the 15-year-old, whom he accused of smoking marijuana and was playing with a pistol when it discharged.

The jury that was seated on Tuesday deliberated two hours before returning with its verdicts at 11:30 p.m., Wednesday. Judge Donnie Rowan of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Franklin on April 28.

Assistant District Attorneys Douglas Rushton and Stephen Downer prosecuted the case.

 

Viusqui Perez-Espinosa sentenced, again, to life in prison for Kenner murder, dismemberment

A Jefferson Parish judge on Thursday (Feb. 9) sentenced Viusqui Perez-Espinosa to life in prison for murdering his rival in a Kenner love triangle before cutting up the body and dumping the parts in a St. John the Baptist Parish swamp.

Perez, 50, was convicted as charged last week of the second-degree murder of Ives Alexis Portales-Lara.  Portales was last seen alive on the evening of Jan. 11, 2016, in the Baylor Place apartment complex he shared with a woman and her ex-boyfriend, Perez.

Portales, who moved to the New Orleans area to be near his young daughter, was a native of Honduras and was 28.

Perez was convicted of the murder and of obstruction of justice in 2018. But the jury in that trial returned with a non-unanimous verdict on the murder count. Perez received a new trial for the murder, only, in 2020, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Ramos vs. Louisiana that non-unanimous verdicts are unconstitutional.

The second jury seated to weigh the murder charge deliberated about four hours before returning with its unanimous guilty verdict on Jan. 31.

Perez and Portales were friends and coworkers whose commonality extended to a woman. Perez was sexually involved with her, but that relationship ended after she needed medical care that took her out of the United States briefly and he became involved with another woman.

Portales moved into the apartment with Perez’s ex, and that arrangement evolved into a sexual relationship. Perez, who temporarily moved back into the apartment, learned of the relationship and wanted to end it. On the morning of Jan. 11, 2016, Perez sexually assaulted the woman in the apartment after Portales departed to work. He returned to the apartment that evening and was never seen again.

The following month, a fisherman found the right arm in the Reserve Canal off Interstate 10, just west of LaPlace. The torso and leg parts were found by pipeline workers in the area the following week. The remaining body parts were never located.

DNA was used to confirm the parts were Portales’, leading to Perez’s indictment and convictions. At trial, he asserted self-defense.

Following the first trial, Judge Ellen Shirer Kovach of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Perez to the 40-year maximum for obstruction of justice, for his attempts to conceal the murder. The jury was unanimous on that charge, and his conviction remained intact. The life sentence she gave him in 2018 was overturned due to the Ramos decision.

On Thursday, Judge Kovach denied the defense’s motions for post-verdict judgment of acquittal and for a new trial. After hearing impact statements written by Portales’ family in Honduras, Judge Kovach sentenced Perez to the mandatory punishment of life in prison, without suspension of sentence, parole or probation, for killing Portales.

Judge Kovach ran the life sentence consecutive to the 40-year sentence she gave him in 2018 for obstruction of justice, and consecutive to the 6-month jail sentence she gave Perez last week in holding him in contempt for his lashing out at a prosecutor during her cross-examination.

Judge Kovach further denied a defense motion to reconsider the sentence, saying “the facts and circumstances of this case are particularly egregious.”

Assistant District Attorneys Kellie Rish and Richard Olivier prosecuted the case.