Tag: second-degree murder

Damon Bryant gets 515 years, Destin Smith gets 227 years in armed robbery spree and homicide

A Jefferson Parish judge on Tuesday (Feb. 10) sentenced a pair of West Bank half-bothers to hundreds of years in prison for their convictions for committing a string of armed robberies, and a shooting that left a Terrytown man dead.

Destin Smith, 26, of Algiers, and Damon Bryant, 28, of Avondale, were convicted by a jury on Jan. 31 of numerous charges in connection with the 2017 crime spree.

Judge Donnie Rowan of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Smith to 227 years in prison and Bryant to 515 years in prison.

“I have to tell you that what you two did in this parish and in other parishes, I mean, we might as well go back in time and call you Bonnie and Clyde, we might as well call you Dillinger, we might as well call you a whole bunch of names, because you have no regard for human life. You terrorized them. That’s what you did. You terrorized these people, you with a shotgun, you with a handgun.”

Smith was convicted of manslaughter in the death of James Thomas Jr., 36. A De Le Salle High School graduate and father of a young son who drove a delivery truck for UPS, Thomas was shot outside his Terrytown apartment when Smith tried to carjack him.

“He lived with integrity and purpose,” Thomas’ mother said Tuesday in victim-impact testimony during the sentencing hearing. “And he was taken from me. … We had just exchanged messages while I was on a cruise. His last words to me were, ‘When are you coming home?’ I didn’t know that would be our final conversation.”

Smith additionally was convicted of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, attempted armed robbery and obstruction of justice. The jury acquitted Smith of five counts of armed robbery.

Smith’s later crimes in part were carried out to raise money to post bail for his half-brother and co-defendant during the 5-day-long the trial, Damon Bryant.

Bryant, 28, of Avondale, was convicted of carjacking and five counts of armed robbery.

A look at the crime spree shows:

  • At about 1:10 a.m., on July 11, 2017, a 24-year-old woman was seated in her boyfriend’s 2011 Mercury Sable in the 900 block of East Monterey Court in Terrytown. As she scrolled through Facebook on her mobile device, two men physically removed her from the car and drove away in it. Several hours later, her boyfriend found his car at an apartment complex in the 2300 block of Park Place Drive – where a relative of Bryant and Smith lived and where Thomas was later shot and killed. Bryant’s DNA was recovered from the steering wheel, leading to his arrest three weeks later. He was convicted of carjacking as a result. Judge Rowan on Tuesday sentenced Bryant to 20 years in prison to be served at hard labor.
  • Late on the morning of July 20, 2017, an employee of a breakfast restaurant in the 500 block of Behrman Highway in Terrytown was cleaning behind the business when he noticed two suspicious men approaching. As the employee attempted to use his cell phone to call the manager inside, the suspects forced him at gunpoint to knock on the rear door. When the manager opened it, the suspects forced their way inside, robbed a 32-year-old woman and a 29-year-old woman and got away with more than $2,600. At trial, jurors acquitted Smith of two counts of armed robbery. They convicted Bryant of two counts of armed robbery. Bryant was sentenced Tuesday to 99 years in prison for each count, for a total of 198 years in prison to be served at hard labor.
  • On the night of July 27, 2017, a 27-year-old woman was getting out of her 2013 Nissan Versa at her home in the 2900 block of North Monterey Court in Terrytown when two suspects approached her intent on robbing her. She dropped her purse and car keys, and the suspects fled with them in her car. Jurors acquitted Smith of armed robbery and convicted Bryant of the charge. Bryant was sentenced to 99 years in prison for robbing this woman, to be served at hard labor.
  • Bryant immediately drove the stolen Versa across the Huey P. Long Bridge to a restaurant where he once worked in the 2900 block of South Clearview Parkway in Elmwood. The stolen car was picked up by the license place recognition system, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. They hopped a fence in the rear of the restaurant and at gunpoint forced two employees – a 42-year-old man and a 43-year-old man – into the office. They fled with more than $2,200 in cash. Bryant cut his right hand when hopping the fence and left blood droplets inside the business, including on the jacket worn by one of the victims – and into the stolen car when fleeing. Smith was charged with being Bryant’s accomplice, but jurors acquitted him. was convicted of two counts of armed robbery. On Tuesday, Bryant was sentenced to 99 years for each count, for a total of 198 years, to be served at hard labor.

A week after robbing the Elmwood restaurant, Bryant was arrested after he shot a man in Boutte, in St. Charles Parish, when attempting to rob him. Bryant spotted that man withdrawing a large amount of cash at a Jefferson Parish bank and then followed him to St. Charles Parish to attempt to rob him. He subsequently was linked to the Jefferson Parish crimes in part based on his DNA being recovered in the stolen Mercury Sable, the stolen Versa and inside the Elmwood restaurant.

After Bryant’s arrest, Smith continued the crime spree in Jefferson and Orleans parishes, in part to raise cash for Bryant’s bail and criminal defense. Smith carried out some of these crimes with his sister’s then-boyfriend, Devante J. Mays, 27, of New Orleans. Mays, who was charged separately, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit armed robbery and two counts of attempted armed robbery in August 2019 in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence.

A look at Smith’s ongoing crime spree shows:

  • On the morning of Aug. 12, 2017, James Thomas Jr. walked to his BMW parked near his apartment in the 2300 block of Park Place Drive. Standing next to his car, he encountered Smith, who was armed with a .20-gauge shotgun. During the carjacking attempt, Smith shot Thomas once in the left thigh. Smith fled to a relative’s apartment in the complex. Thomas died a short while later at a New Orleans hospital. “James was a big, gentle Teddy bear. He would give you the shirt off his back,” Thomas’ fiancée said in victim-impact testimony on Wednesday. Smith was charged with second-degree murder, but jurors convicted him of the lesser homicide charge of manslaughter. Smith was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years in prison.
  • Hours later, on the night of Aug. 12, 2017, two employees were at a discount store in the 7400 block of the Westbank Expressway – a 39-year-old woman and a 21-year-old woman – when two gunmen approached the front door. The business had been closed for the day, so the doors were locked. The gunmen were unable to get inside. Smith was convicted of two counts of attempted armed robbery and was sentenced Tuesday to 49 years in prison for each count, for a total of 98 years in prison. Mays separately pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted armed robbery.
  • On Aug. 12 and Aug. 13, 2017, a man in New Orleans East, a discount store in the Lower 9th Ward, a woman and her cab driver in Algiers and two employees and a customer at a breakfast restaurant in Algiers were robbed. Jurors in the Jefferson Parish trial heard testimony about the crimes that were committed in Orleans Parish, which formed the basis for the conspiracy to commit armed robbery charge in the Jefferson Parish case. In the New Orleans East robbery, the victim reported having his 2008 Mazda CX9 stolen. That vehicle was later recovered near Smith’s residence on Bacchus Street in Algiers. In it, police recovered a spent .20-gauge shotgun shell that was ballistically matched to the shotgun used to kill James Thomas Jr., in Terrytown. These crimes are the basis for Smith’s being convicted of conspiracy to commit armed robbery. He was sentenced Tuesday to 49 years in prison. Mays previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit armed robbery. In the Orleans Parish cases, Smith and Mays also pleaded guilty in 2019 to committing nine counts of armed robbery and one count of aggravated battery in Criminal District Court. Smith received a 12-year sentence and Mays was sentenced to 15 years by a New Orleans judge.
  • Smith also was convicted of obstruction of justice for getting rid of the .20-gauge shotgun he used to kill Thomas. For this, he was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years in prison.

New Orleans Police Department detectives who were investigating the spate of armed robberies arrested Smith and Mays in the Bacchus Street residence in Algiers on Aug. 14, 2017. Victims’ property from several of the robberies was recovered there, linking them to the crimes.

Assistant District Attorneys Taylor Somerville and Tommy Block prosecuted the case.

 

 

 

Lucien Bazley, convicted in Marrero manslaughter, sentenced to 60 years in prison

A Jefferson Parish judge on Thursday (Feb. 5) sentenced Lucien Bazley to 60 years in prison in finding that the Marrero man is a habitual offender. 

In his most recent felony conviction, Bazley, 50, was convicted by a jury in October of manslaughter in the Sept. 25, 2022, shooting of Wayne Martin. 

Martin was celebrating his 30th birthday at an Ames Boulevard lounge on the night he died. He was walking behind Bazley in an auto parts store parking lot across the street from the lounge when Bazley turned and shot him once in the right eye. Martin collapsed and died at the scene. 

Click here to read about the trial. 

Bazley, who asserted self-defense, had been charged with second-degree murder and of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm in connection with Martin’s death. At the time he killed Martin, Bazley was on parole for a 2008 conviction of possession of cocaine. As such, he was legally barred from possessing firearms. 

During his first trial in June 2025, a jury was unable to reach a verdict on the murder charge, leading to a mistrial on that count. However, jurors found him guilty of the illegal possession of a firearm, for which he later was sentenced to 20 years in prison. 

He was retried on the murder charge in October. That second jury found him guilty of the lesser offense of manslaughter. 

Judge R. Christopher Cox III of the 24th Judicial District Court on Dec. 8, 2025 sentenced Bazley to the maximum 40 years in prison for manslaughter. On Thursday, Judge Cox vacated that sentence and resentenced Bazley to 60 years in prison in finding that the convict is a career criminal. Bazley’s prior felony convictions were for narcotics, in 2004 and 2008.  

Judge Cox ran the 60-year sentence concurrent with the 20 years Bazley received last year for the illegal possession of a firearm conviction. 

Former Assistant District Attorney Matthew Whitworth as well as Assistant District Attorneys Sarah Helmstetter and Rachel Warren prosecuted the case. 

Lucien Bazley guilty of manslaughter in Marrero shooting

A Jefferson Parish jury on Monday (Oct. 20) found Lucien Bazley guilty of manslaughter, rejecting his assertion that he was defending himself when he shot a man in the face in a Marrero parking lot.

Bazley, 50, was on parole when he killed Wayne Martin on the night of Sept. 25, 2022. Martin, who was celebrating his 30th birthday, was shot in the right eye, collapsed and died in an Ames Boulevard auto parts business parking lot. Moments earlier, Martin, his older sister and a host of others were celebrating the occasion in a lounge across the street from the homicide scene.

Jurors declined to find Bazley guilty as charged of second-degree murder, opting instead to convict him of the lesser charge of manslaughter. It carries a sentence of up to 40 years in prison.

Bazley told jurors that he had been wrongly suspected on the streets of killing a man who was associated with Martin. Bazley alleged that Martin was walking behind him when he brandished a firearm and prepared to shoot him.

The incident, which was recorded by a nearby business’s video security system, shows Bazley walking ahead of Martin and without provocation, he turned and shot Martin. Martin immediately collapsed.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies found no firearms on Martin’s body on the scene, undercutting Bazley’s self-defense claim. A social media video later surfaced showing Martin dancing inside the lounge and brandishing what appeared to be a firearm. The state argued that Bazley’s defense belies reason that if he was in fear for his life, he would not have turned his back on man he says had threatened him.

“He did not kill Wayne Martin in self-defense,” Assistant District Attorney Sarah Helmstetter told jurors Monday in closing argument. “He turned around, shot Wayne Martin in the face and walked off, for 21 seconds, like nothing happened.”

The video shows Bazley calmly walking away as bystanders fled for safety. Twenty-one seconds later, Bazley was shot three times by an unknown gunman. Bazley stumbled away to his car.

He drove to his girlfriend’s home on Gentry Road, where he resided with members of her family. The Sheriff’s Office SWAT team arrested him there the following morning. The SWAT deputies lay siege to the house for an hour before Bazley surrendered.

Deputies encountered Bazley on the night before he killed Martin, in the same auto parts store parking lot. Bazley called 911 to report that someone had shot his BMW while he was seated in the car. However, on the night he killed Martin, he did not call 911, neither to report the shooting nor to seek medical assistance.

Because of his 2008 conviction of possession of marijuana and possession of cocaine, Bazley was prohibited from possessing firearms. On the night of the homicide, he took his girlfriend’s revolver without her knowledge and returned to the shooting scene from the previous night. “He was going to get revenge, some way, somehow,” Assistant DA Helmstetter told jurors.

This was the second time Bazley faced a Jefferson Parish jury for killing Martin. In June, Bazley, who represented himself without an attorney, was convicted of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, for which he has since been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

That first jury was unable to reach a verdict on the second-degree murder charge, leading to a mistrial and this month’s retrial.

On Monday, the second jury deliberated just over two hours in finding Bazley guilty of manslaughter. Judge R. Christopher Cox III of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Bazley on Nov. 13.

Assistant District Attorneys Matthew Whitworth, Sarah Helmstetter and Rachel Warren prosecuted the case.

Saleh ‘Sam’ Omar sentenced to maximum 40 years for Terrytown duct tape killing

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (June 25) sentenced Saleh “Sam” Omar to 40 years in prison for his conviction of killing a man by tightly wrapping his face and torso with duct tape, leaving him unable to free himself to breathe.

A jury on April 24 found Omar, 47, guilty of manslaughter in the death of Mohamed “Mo” Mezlini, 29. Omar was indicted with second-degree murder, but the jury found him guilty of the lesser offense.

In sentencing Omar to the maximum punishment for manslaughter, Judge Lee Faulkner of the 24th Judicial District Court noted Wednesday that Omar’s use of duct tape to kill Mezlini was “particularly heinous.”

“I believe the defendant got a windfall from the jury,” Judge Faulkner noted, when it found Omar guilty of the lesser offense. Second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Click here to read about the trial.

Omar owned a cell phone repair business in a strip mall on Terry Parkway. He previously employed Mezlini. The men had unspecified animosity that culminated in a vacant suite in that strip mall on Sept. 8, 2018.

With the help of his half-brother Yazan Omar, then aged 17, Omar lured Mezlini to that vacant suite. A fight ensued and ended with Omar binding Mezlini with duct tape. He left Mezlini in the locked suite and fled from the strip mall.

Seventeen minutes after Omar fled, Yazan Omar and two of Omar’s employees broke into the vacant suite and found Mezlini bound in duct tape. They removed the tape, attempted chest compressions and called 911. Mezlini died the following day. The Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office said Mezlini died from asphyxia due to strangulation and smothering. His hyoid bone, in his throat, was also broken, indicating strangulation.

Omar fled to Central America, where he was arrested two weeks later in Panama and was returned to Jefferson Parish to face charges.

In December 2021, Yazan Omar, now 24, pleaded guilty to false imprisonment with a dangerous weapon and obstruction of justice in exchange for a 15-year prison sentence.

During Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, Omar’s attorney provided the testimony of character witnesses and arguments in seeking leniency.

On the state’s side, more than two-dozen people provided victim-impact statements to the court seeking justice for Mezlini and the maximum punishment for Omar.

“He had his whole life ahead of him,” Mezlini’s widow testified. She will never forgive Omar, she told the court. She noted that the coldness of how he used duct tape to kill her husband “demonstrates a level of violence and depravity beyond comprehension.”

Mezlini’s mother called him “the epitome of good character and ethics.” His father added, “My son did nothing to deserve what happened to him.”

Assistant District Attorneys Kristen Landrieu and Brendan Bowen prosecuted the case. They were assisted by Assistant District Attorneys Mallory Grefer and Darren Allemand.

Winston Bartholomew convicted of beating man to death over a rumor

A Jefferson Parish jury on Wednesday night (April 2) found Winston Bartholomew guilty of beating a man to death inside his Metairie apartment, fueled with anger over allegations that the victim had spread salacious rumors about his girlfriend.

Bartholomew, 62, is guilty as charged of the second-degree murder of Gary Olver, 62, and of obstruction of justice, the jurors unanimously found.

Olver lived in a second-floor apartment above a tavern in the 2700 block of Mississippi Street, just off Veterans Memorial Boulevard. It was there that Bartholomew confronted Olver over the rumors that Olver was suspected of spreading about Bartholomew’s girlfriend.

On May 14, 2024, Bartholomew and his girlfriend saw Olver’s car parked at the building, and they decided to visit. Once inside, Olver allegedly brushed against the woman. Bartholomew then lashed out physically.

“He wasn’t attacked. He wasn’t threatened. He wasn’t hit in any way. He threw the first punch,” Assistant District Attorney Leo Aaron told jurors Tuesday in opening statements.

In a neighboring apartment, a man heard the ruckus and a woman yelling, “Stop it, stop it. You’re going to kill him.” Following a short while of silence, the man next door heard the ruckus resume.

He then heard a final thump: “Gary Olver being dealt the fatal blow that would end his life,” Aaron told jurors.

The woman had left the apartment. Seeing Olver lying unconscious on the floor, Bartholomew sprinkled some water on the victim and wiped his face with a towel.

Bartholomew then walked to the tavern downstairs, ordered a beer and drank it. Upstairs, a neighbor asked the property manager to check on Olver. The manager entered the apartment and found the  on the victim floor, bleeding.

From the barstool, Bartholomew witnessed the arrival of Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies and an ambulance crew. He saw Olver being taken away to a hospital. In addition to a traumatic brain injury that was determined to be fatal, Olver suffered broken ribs on both sides of his torso and a laceration to the back of his head.

Olver later was transferred to hospice care and died on May 28, 2024 after his family had him removed from life support.

Through witnesses and surveillance video, detectives had identified Bartholomew as the suspect and sought his arrest. They arrested Bartholomew on May 31, 2024.

When questioned, Bartholomew recounted confronting Olver over the rumors. Bartholomew disclosed that he destroyed his own cell phone so that detectives could not use its signals to track him. At trial, his attorneys argued that Olver was the aggressor and that their client was defending himself.

The state refuted the self-defense assertions, saying neither Bartholomew nor his girlfriend was in danger of losing their lives. “They had multiple opportunities to just turn away and leave. But he didn’t, and he beat a 62-year-old man to death with his own hands,” Aaron told jurors.

The jury that was seated Monday deliberated less than two hours in finding Bartholomew guilty of second-degree murder and obstruction of justice – for destroying the cell phone.

Judge Nancy Miller of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Bartholomew on Wednesday (April 9).

UPDATE:

Judge Miller on April 16 sentenced Bartholomew to life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence, which is the mandatory punishment for second-degree murder under Louisiana law. Judge Miller also sentenced Bartholomew to the maximum 40 years for obstruction of justice.

“In your statement to the police officer after you were arrested, you stated you were friends. Friends don’t beat the pulp out of a friend because of something that might have been said,” one of Olver’s sisters told the court in victim-impact testimony, citing Bartholomew’s assertion that Olver spread a rumor about his girlfriend.

Before receiving his sentence, Bartholomew expressed his sorrow for what happened. “I would do anything to change the course of events that occurred on that fateful day,” he told the court, maintaining that Olver was his friend. But he said he is a victim, too.

In response to his comment, Judge Miller told Bartholomew that Olver’s sister, sitting in the courtroom, is the victim, not Bartholomew. “Don’t ever confuse the two,” she told him.

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

 

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

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

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

Click here to read about the verdict.

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

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

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

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

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

A look at Lee’s codefendants’ cases shows:

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

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

 

Convicted of killing girlfriend with zip tie, Dennis Sheppard sentenced to life in prison

A Jefferson Parish judge on Monday (Oct. 30) sentenced Dennis Sheppard to life in prison for killing his girlfriend by tightening a zip tie around her neck and suffocating her.

Sheppard, 60, of Harvey, killed Jyra Holmes on Nov. 2, 2020, during a domestic dispute outside her apartment in the 1500 block of Chelsea Road in Harvey. After pulling the zip tie tightly, Sheppard pushed Holmes to the ground in full view of witnesses.

“She wanted me dead; now she’s dead,” Sheppard said as he killed her. A U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force arrested Sheppard three days later in Bay St. Louis, Miss.

A Jefferson Parish jury on Sept. 28 deliberated just over one-half hour in convicting Sheppard as charged of second-degree murder. Life in prison with no probation, parole or suspension of sentence is the mandatory punishment for the crime in Louisiana.

On Monday, Holmes’ twin sister provided victim-impact testimony, describing Sheppard’s behavior as “an evil act,” and saying, “I hope the only mercy you get for the rest of your life is the mercy you showed my sister.”

After denying defense motions for a new trial and post-verdict judgment of acquittal, Judge June Berry Darensburg of the 24th Judicial District Court noted how Sheppard fled the state after killing Holmes.

“She had a full life ahead of her; she was very young,” Judge Darensburg said. “To take someone’s life, I would have to agree with the impact testimony: It was an evil act.”

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