Tag: Westwego Police Department

Byron Spottsville sentenced to life for Westwego playground murder

A Jefferson Parish judge on Monday sentenced Byron Spottsville to life in prison for his conviction of murdering a 26-year-old man in a Westwego playground.

Spottsville, 23, received the mandatory sentence for his conviction of second-degree murder in the death of Zashawn Espinoza.

Click here to read about the trial.

Judge R. Christopher Cox of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Spottsville to mandatory life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Judge Cox additionally sentenced Spottsville to 40 years in prison for obstruction of justice. He ran the sentences concurrently.

Spottsville was charged with obstruction of justice for hindering the investigation by hiding the clothing he wore during the murder, the murder weapon and items he stole from Espinoza in a nearby wooded area.

Assistant District Attorneys Sarah Helmstetter and Tommy Block prosecuted the case.

 

Byron Spottsville convicted of murdering man in Westwego playground

A Jefferson Parish jury on Thursday night (July 9) found Byron Spottsville guilty of gunning down a 26-year-old man at a Westwego playground while trying to rob him. 

Spottsville, 23, of Westwego, was convicted as charged of the second-degree murder of Zashaun Espinoza. He also was convicted of obstruction of justice for hindering the investigation: He hid the clothing he wore during the killing and his Smith & Wesson 9mm semiautomatic pistol, along with property he took from the victim in a nearby wooded area. 

Espinoza, of Marrero,  was shot seven times on April 30, 2025, while in Fred Dorsey Playground, at 38 Norton St. Spottsville, who had a history of opioid addiction, lived next to the playground with his grandparents. After texting people that day in an unsuccessful quest to find narcotics, Spottsville targeted Espinoza believing he had the opioids that his body craved. 

In his final moments of life, Espinoza was seated on the bleachers, his ear buds in his hands, while waiting for his girlfriend to pick him up. The couple had been exchanging text messages. Spottsville, dressed in black and carrying a black ski mask, approached Espinoza, believing he had illegal narcotics. Evidence suggests that when Spottsville brandished his pistol, Espinoza tried to run. Spottsville opened fire and continued to shoot while moving toward his victim. 

Of the eight bullets he fired, seven struck Espinoza in a tight grouping, Dr. Timothy Scanlan, who was qualified as an expert in crime scene reconstruction, blood stain pattern analysis and firearms and toolmark examination, noted in testimony. One of the bullets struck Espinoza in the back of his thigh, breaking his femur and leaving him unable to run. He fell to the ground. 

Spottsville then fired his final bullets.  “He stood over that man and shot him at least twice while he was helpless and incapacitated on the ground,” Assistant District Attorney Tommy Block told jurors Thursday in closing argument. 

“Byron Spottsville walked out of his house that day with a ski mask and a gun to get those pills no matter what it took,” Assistant District Attorney Sarah Helmstetter told jurors in opening statements this week. “Byron Spottsville walked out of that house that day and pulled that trigger eight times. Eight. He missed once. One time. He walked up to Zashaun Espinoza, and he took his life.” 

Before fleeing, Spottsville ripped from Espinoza’s dying body the shoulder bag he believed contained narcotics, which he wanted for himself. When police located it later, Espinoza’s bag contained only a bottle of cologne and a bracelet. 

Forensic evidence showed the bag had Espinoza’s blood on it and on both sides of the zipper, consistent with Spottsville rifling through the stolen property. Espinoza’s Louisiana Purchase Card was located along a fence line, confirming that Spottsville had gone through the victim’s bag before discarding it in a nearby vacant lot that was covered with overgrown brush and trees. 

Spottsville also stripped off the clothing and mask he wore during the homicide and hid the items in the underbrush. He wrapped the murder weapon in his hoody before secreting it in a 55-gallon oil drum in the lot. All of it was found in proximity to Espinoza’s property.   

Having removed his clothing, Spottsville then stole a blue bath towel from the back porch of a nearby residence and wrapped it around his waist. He walked back to his grandparents’ home in full view of the Westwego Police Department officers who were responding to the shooting scene. 

In doing so, he drew extraordinary attention to himself, leading police to seek him out for questioning in connection with the murder. The police initially inquired as to why he wore nothing but a bath towel. Spottsville immediately denied knowledge of the shooting. 

“Westwego police weren’t asking him about it,” Assistant DA Helmstetter said of the murder. “They were asking him why he was walking around the neighborhood in a bath towel. He told his grandmother that he was showering at his girlfriend’s house, then told police he went to a vacant house to shower. It made no sense. … He leaves his house with running water to go to an abandoned house to shower?” 

Eventually, Spottsville confessed that he shot Espinoza asserting self-defense, but only after a detective raised self-defense when asking why he shot Espinoza. Police found no firearms in Espinoza’s possession when investigating the murder.  

Espinoza suffered gunshot wounds to his forehead, his cheek, his neck, his torso and his left thigh. The bullet that struck him in the neck traveled through his skull and exited the top of his head. That trajectory is consistent with Espinoza lying on his back when that bullet entered his body, Dr. Scanlan, the crime scene reconstruction expert, testified. 

“These wounds are not consistent with self-defense at all,” Assistant DA Helmstetter told jurors. 

While held in the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna a year after his arrest and only weeks before his trial, Spottsville told a family member in a recorded telephone conversation that he and Espinoza had an altercation in the park and that he shot Espinoza only after he reached for Spottsville’s pistol when he brandished it. Spottsville then claimed self-defense. Dr. Scanlan provided testimony at trial that rebutted Spottsville’s claim of self-defense as being inconsistent with the physical and forensic evidence found on the crime scene. 

At trial and during closing arguments to the jury, Spottsville’s attorneys did not dispute that he shot and killed Espinoza. They attempted to put forth a hybrid defense of self-defense while also describing Spottsville’s actions as manslaughter, a lesser grade of homicide that carries a sentence of up to 40 years in prison. Second-degree murder, with which Spottsville was indicted, carries a mandatory life sentence in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. 

The defense pointed out that there were no eyewitnesses to the shooting, and the only evidence the police had to identify the shooter was the statement that Spottsville gave. The defense attorneys argued that Spottsville legally purchased the pistol from a pawn shop (the receipt was still in his wallet), and that he did so for protection. And they said that Spottsville directed police to where he stashed his clothes, the pistol and Espinoza’s bag. 

Defense attorneys portrayed Spottsville as having been hospitalized for “severe depression,” in part because of the deaths of his mother and an uncle who overdosed on drugs claiming Spottsville’s drug addiction was a result of him self-medicating with opioids to treat his depression.  

Assistant DA Block said Spottsville was guilty of second-degree murder, whether because he had the specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm upon Espinoza, or that he killed Espinoza while trying to rob him – known as felony-murder.  

“He’s not sorry for what he did,” Assistant DA Block told jurors. “He’s sorry he got caught. He’s sorry for himself.” 

“What the defense wants you to do is give Byron Spottsville a break,” Assistant DA Helmstetter told jurors in closing argument. “But I submit to you that Byron Spottsville doesn’t deserve a break.” 

Jurors deliberated about 1 ½ hours before returning with their unanimous verdicts. 

Judge R. Christopher Cox of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Spottsville on Aug. 17. 

Assistant District Attorneys Sarah Helmstetter and Tommy Block prosecuted the case. 

 

Quantrell Williams of Westwego sentenced to 37 years in child sex abuse case

A Jefferson Parish judge on Wednesday (June 24) sentenced Quantrell Williams to 37 years in prison for his conviction of having sexual relations with a teenaged girl and video recording it.

During just over an hour of deliberations on June 18, a jury found Williams, 32, of Westwego, guilty as charged of two counts of carnal knowledge of a juvenile and one count of possession of pornography involving juveniles.

While the teenager’s mother was at work one day in November 2023, Williams struck up a conversation about sex with the then-13-year-old girl in his Westwego home and repeatedly asked if she would have relations with him. That led to an encounter. Afterward, he had the teenager perform another sexual act before she would be allowed to play with friends. She again went along with his demands.

In August 2024, the teenager’s mother discovered a video of the incident on Williams’ cell phone, which she searched while he was incarcerated on an unrelated matter in Orleans Parish. She notified the Westwego Police Department, which began an investigation that led to Williams’ arrest.

Assistant District Attorney Eric Cusimano described Williams as “a pedophile predator” in closing arguments and pointed to other assaultive behaviors by the defendant. “While testifying at trial about additional prior assaults that had occurred between her and the defendant when she was under the age of 13, the victim stated that she had only disclosed these additional incidents to the district attorney’s office because it was the first time she felt like she was speaking to someone who believed her and was not telling her to deny the allegations, as Williams had attempted to persuade the victim’s mother and the victim to do in numerous phone calls,” Assistant DA Cusimano said.

In telephone conversations from the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna, which are recorded, Williams admitted to the victim’s mother what he had done but made excuses for it. “Anything I ever done or did, I had permission,” he told her. “Everything was always mutual.”

Williams later urged the victim’s mother to tell police that the allegations were “all lies.” “Tell her you coerced her to say that,” he told the mother. “Tell them you told her to say that because you were mad at me.” Upon learning that the mother had already disclosed the charges, he told her, “You just gave me a death sentence.”

The victim was unaware that she was being video recorded. She confirmed that it was her in the video. Assistant District Attorney James Wascom told jurors in closing argument that Williams was identifiable in the video through a surgical scar on his stomach and his tattoos.

“Every man and woman has a right to a trial by their peers,” Assistant DA Wascom told jurors. “And Mr. Williams refused to take responsibility for his actions. He needs to be held accountable.”

Judge Frank Brindisi of the 24th Judicial District Court said during Wednesday’s sentencing hearing that Williams likely sexually abused the victim more than what is known. The judge referred to the other assaults that were disclosed by the victim, which occurred when she was under 13 years old. Those assault allegations were deemed admissible evidence that was presented to the jury during the trial.

“The only way I look at this, Mr. Williams, is that you’re a rapist,” Judge Brindisi told Williams. “You raped this little girl. I don’t know how long the rape has been going on. … I know you’ve done it more than twice. I can only imagine how many times.”

Judge Brindisi sentenced Williams to 19 years for the pornography charge and nine years for each of the two carnal knowledge charges. He ran the sentences consecutively. The judge additionally ordered Williams to pay a $60,000 fine.

Assistant District Attorneys Eric Cusimano and James Wascom prosecuted the case.

Westwego man convicted of sexually assaulting two women as Jefferson Parish jury trials resume

A Jefferson Parish jury, the first one empaneled in the 24th Judicial District since the Louisiana Supreme Court lifted its year-long moratorium on jury trials last month, convicted a Westwego man Wednesday (April 21) of sexually assaulting two women.

John W. Patton, 56, is guilty as charged of the attempted forcible rape of one victim, and of the forcible rape, sexual battery and false imprisonment of a second victim, the jury decided after 50 minutes of deliberation.

The first victim was a 44-year-old woman who Patton attempted to rape on Oct. 29, 2016, in her apartment in Kenner, according to trial testimony. Patton met the woman through a dating website several weeks before the crime occurred.

The second victim was a 50-year-old woman Patton victimized between Sept. 7, 2018 and Sept. 8, 2018, in his Westwego residence, according to trial testimony. The victim also met Patton through a dating website. Patton lured the victim to his home after asserting that his sister was there. After the victim arrived, and upon learning there was no sister present, Patton attacked her and held her at knifepoint before eventually letting her leave the following day, according to trial testimony.

The woman testified she relented to Patton’s demands because she was afraid of him. “Ladies and gentlemen, complying out of fear is not consent,” Assistant District Attorney Zach Popovich, who prosecuted Patton with Laura Schneidau, told jurors in opening statements on April 13.

“Ladies and gentlemen, complying out of fear is not consent.”- Assistant District Attorney Zach Popovich

The victim in the 2016 crime did not report it to police until reading of the second victim in a 2018 news report, according to trial testimony. Both women described Patton as sexually assaulting them but unable to maintain an erection.

Patton, who previously fired his court-appointed attorney and acted as his own defense counsel, denied assaulting the women or being impotent. He accused the police of engaging in misconduct.

Judge Stephen Grefer is scheduled to sentence Patton on May 19.

Patton’s jury trial was the first in Jefferson Parish since the Louisiana Supreme Court lifted its statewide moratorium that was enacted last year in response to the pandemic. The moratorium was lifted effective April 1.

A second post-moratorium jury was seated last week in Judge Adrian Adams’ court. On Thursday (April 15), those jurors convicted a Baton Rouge man of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Assistant District Attorneys Zach Grate and Margaret Martin prosecuted that case.

Then, on Tuesday (April 20), a jury was seated in Judge Frank Brindisi’s court to weigh evidence against Alexander Style, 41, of New Orleans, who was charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and witness intimidation. But before opening statements began Wednesday, Styles pleaded guilty as charged and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Assistant District Attorneys Joshua Vanderhooft and Matthew Whitworth prosecuted the case.

In November, meanwhile, when the moratorium was temporarily lifted, a jury seated in Judge Michael Mentz’s court convicted a Marrero man of violating a protective order and of other offenses. That jury was seated only because the defendant filed a speedy trial motion earlier in the year. Assistant District Attorneys Popovich and Rebecca Kehoe Thomas prosecuted that case.

 

 

Man sentenced to life in prison for raping, impregnating 12-year-old girl

Days after he was convicted by a jury, Jose Ivan Moreno Cervantes was sentenced Monday (May 7) to a mandatory life sentence in prison for raping and impregnating a 12-year-old girl in West Jefferson.

Cervantes, 36, was convicted as charged last week of the first-degree rape of a child whose pregnancy went undiagnosed into its eighth month, when a school official raised question.

The child then told authorities that Cervantes raped her three times, according to evidence presented during the trial.

Noting the victim’s bravery for testify against Cervantes, Judge John Molaison of the 24th Judicial District Court said during the sentencing hearing that adults are charged with caring and supporting children.

“It’s our obligation to protect them, and you did just the opposite,” Judge Molaison told Cervantes. “You preyed upon a child for your own sexual gratification.”

The victim gave birth in September 2015. DNA testing confirmed that Cervantes is the father. After he was booked, his family had the child sign an affidavit swearing that she impregnated herself with one of Cervantes’ used condoms. The victim willingly signed it only so that her son would have a father in his life.

Cervantes must serve life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Africk and Blair Constant prosecuted the case.

Man convicted of raping, impregnating 12-year-old girl

A Jefferson Parish jury on Tuesday (May 1) found a man guilty of raping and impregnating a 12-year-old girl in West Jefferson, rejecting the defendant’s assertion that the victim used his discarded condom to cause the pregnancy.

Jose Ivan Moreno Cervantes, 36, who at the time of his arrest resided in Denham Springs, was convicted as charged of first-degree rape of a juvenile under age 13, a crime that carries a mandatory life sentence in prison.

Cervantes raped the girl three times, twice in Westwego and once in his car in Marrero, according to evidence presented during the two-day trial. School officials suspected in late August 2015 that the child was pregnant, a suspicion the mother initially rejected.

However, that same day, a pediatrician confirmed that the victim was 8 ½ months pregnant. She then told authorities that she had been raped by Cervantes, who by this point had vanished from Jefferson Parish. The victim was 12 years old when she gave birth in September 2015.

Police obtained a warrant for Cervantes’ arrest, and a U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force apprehended him in July 2016, when the newborn was nine months old, according to evidence presented during the trial.

DNA testing established that Cervantes is the father. Prior to trial, the victim and her mother signed an affidavit at the behest of Cervantes’ family, asserting that the child obtained one of his used condoms and impregnated herself. She later refuted the assertions spelled out in the affidavit, saying she signed it in hopes her child would have a father.

The jury deliberated less than a half-hour in convicting Cervantes. Judge John Molaison of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Cervantes on Monday (May 7).

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Africk and Blair Constant prosecuted the case.

 

 

Terrytown teen sentenced to life with parole in Westwego murder

A Terrytown teen was sentenced Wednesday (April 4) to life in prison with the benefit of parole eligibility for killing a 15-year-old boy in Westwego.

Chamid Davis, 19, committed the second-degree murder of Kevin Thomas Jr., on Oct. 19, 2015, a Jefferson Parish jury decided last month.

Davis, who was 16 years old at the time, lured Thomas out of his family’s apartment in the Tanglewood complex in the 1000 block of Sycamore Drive, under the guise of a marijuana transaction, according to evidence presented at trial.

Evidence showed Thomas was shot three times in his back as he ran back up to his apartment, where he died in his mother’s arms. According to prosecutors’ theory of the case, Thomas was targeted over a stolen gun.

With Thomas’ father standing by her side in court Wednesday, Thomas’ mother provided impact testimony, thanking the Westwego Police Department and the District Attorney’s Office. “You destroyed a whole family, not only ours, but yours,” she told Davis.

Because he was under age 18 at the time of the offense, Davis is eligible to seek parole after serving 25 years of his life sentence. After denying defense motions for a new trial and post-verdict judgment of acquittal, Judge Henry Sullivan of the 24th Judicial District Court announced the sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Matt Clauss and Lindsay Truhe prosecuted the case.

Terrytown teen convicted in Westwego murder

A Terrytown teen was convicted Friday night (March 23) of luring a 15-year-old boy out of his family’s Westwego apartment and fatally shooting him as he fled for his life.

Chamid Davis, 19, committed the second-degree murder of Kevin Thomas Jr., the Jefferson Parish jury decided.

The motive: Retaliation for Thomas allegedly stealing a gun. “It is really dumb to kill someone over a stolen gun,” Assistant District Attorney Matt Clauss, who prosecuted with Lindsay Truhe, said in closing argument. He called it “foolery.”

Just after midnight on Oct. 19, 2015, Davis, then age 16, contacted Thomas and, under the guise of a marijuana transaction, had him leave his home in the Tanglewood apartment complex in the 1000 block of Sycamore Drive, according to evidence presented at trial.

Evidence shows Thomas was shot in the back three times as he fled up the stairs to his apartment to escape the gunfire. He died in mother’s arms in their living room, according to trial evidence.

Davis denied it, and his attorney argued that Westwego Police Department detectives arrested the wrong person. The jury deliberated just over an hour before finding Davis guilty.

Judge Henry Sullivan of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Davis on April 4. Because he was under age 18 when he killed Thomas, Davis will be eligible for parole consideration after serving 25 years of his life sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Matt Clauss and Lindsay Truhe prosecuted the case.

 

Convicted child molester sentenced to 60 years in prison

A Mississippi man who was convicted last week of molesting two juvenile girls in Jefferson Parish was sentenced Thursday (Oct. 12) to 60 years in prison.

Billy Joe Howard, 33, of Kiln, was convicted by a jury on Oct. 6 of sexual battery of a juvenile under age 13 and indecent behavior with a juvenile under age 13. The crimes occurred within a 45-day period in July and August 2015.

Howard met the victims, who were ages 11 and 7 when they were molested, through their mothers. He met the women through a dating website. Neither woman was aware of the other until after Howard was arrested. While free on bond in the Jefferson Parish cases, Howard was booked in Harrison County, Miss., accused of molesting a 16-year-old girl.

After rejecting a defense-motion for a new trial and hearing impact testimony from one of the victims and the mother of the other victim, Judge Henry Sullivan of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Howard to 40 years for the sexual battery and 20 years for the indecent behavior.

Judge Sullivan ordered the sentences to be run consecutively, given that there were two separate victims and crimes.

Howard will not be eligible for probation, parole or suspension of sentence. He also will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life after completing his prison sentence.

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Zachary Popovich prosecuted the case.

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Mississippi man convicted of molesting Jefferson Parish girls

A Mississippi man was found guilty Thursday night (Oct. 5) of molesting two Jefferson Parish girls during a 45-day period in 2015.

Billy Joe Howard, 33, of Kiln, was convicted as charged of sexual battery of a juvenile under age 13 and indecent behavior with a juvenile under age 13.

The victims were ages 11 and 7 when the abuse occurred. Howard encountered the children after meeting their mothers through a dating website, in one case only a week before he molested the child, according to evidence presented to the jury.

He committed the sexual battery of the 11-year-old girl in July 2015, and he committed indecent behavior the following month with the 7-year-old girl.

The victims’ mothers were notified, leading to criminal investigations by the Westwego Police Department and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Howard gained his release from custody after posting bond. While awaiting trial, he was accused of molesting a 16-year-old girl in Hancock County, Miss., according to evidence presented during the trial.

The Jefferson Parish jury deliberated just over an hour before returning with its unanimous verdicts at 7:45 p.m. Judge Henry Sullivan of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Howard on Thursday (Oct. 12).

Assistant District Attorneys Lindsay Truhe and Zachary Popovich prosecuted the case.

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