Tag Archives: Homicide

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2 killed in shooting on Bayou Road in New Orleans

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The New Orleans Police Department is investigating a homicide that happened early Monday morning at the intersection of North Broad Avenue and Bayou Road.At around 1:29 a.m., officers responded to a shooting where they found a man and woman suffering from gunshot wounds. Both victims were taken to an area hospital where the woman, who was 23, was pronounced dead, and the man, 25, was also died from his injuries, according to NOPD.NOPD said both were inside a car driving riverbound on Bayou Road toward North Broad when another vehicle pulled up and opened fire. Police say the vehicle that fired shots drove down Broad Avenue. Homicide Detective Lucretia Gantner is in charge of the ongoing investigation and can be reached at 504-658-5300. Citizens may also call anonymously to Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans at 504-822-1111, or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP with information that can aid the investigation.

NEW ORLEANS —

The New Orleans Police Department is investigating a homicide that happened early Monday morning at the intersection of North Broad Avenue and Bayou Road.

At around 1:29 a.m., officers responded to a shooting where they found a man and woman suffering from gunshot wounds.

Both victims were taken to an area hospital where the woman, who was 23, was pronounced dead, and the man, 25, was also died from his injuries, according to NOPD.

NOPD said both were inside a car driving riverbound on Bayou Road toward North Broad when another vehicle pulled up and opened fire.

Police say the vehicle that fired shots drove down Broad Avenue.

Homicide Detective Lucretia Gantner is in charge of the ongoing investigation and can be reached at 504-658-5300. Citizens may also call anonymously to Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans at 504-822-1111, or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP with information that can aid the investigation.

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He spent two decades in prison for church murders he didn’t commit. Newly discovered DNA evidence just helped exonerate him

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CNN
—  

A man who spent two decades in prison for a 1985 double homicide during church bible study has been exonerated, with all charges against him dropped.

Newly discovered DNA evidence from a hair sample shows Dennis A. Perry, 59, “may have been acquitted if that evidence had been available” during his 2003 trial for the murders of Harold and Thelma Swain in Georgia, according to a news release from Glynn County District Attorney Keith Higgins.

Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/AP

Dennis Perry, center, standing beside wife Brenda Perry gets emotional while thanking the team from the Georgia Innocence Project after they worked to get his release after 20 years behind bars.

Perry, formerly of Camden County, Georgia, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences following his arrest in 2000. His subsequent conviction was overturned in July, and Higgins’ office announced Monday that prosecutors will not re-try him.

“It took a long time, but I never gave up,” Perry said in a news release Monday. “I knew that eventually someone else would see the truth, and I’m so grateful to the Georgia Innocence Project and King & Spalding [law firm] for bringing the truth to light. This indictment has been hanging over my head for over 20 years, and it’s such a relief to finally not have to worry about being accused of this awful thing.”

The DNA evidence involves a pair of eyeglasses found at the crime scene in 1985, according to the news release. Investigators found that the glasses had two hairs belonging to the killer, stuck in the hinges.

In February 2020, private investigators working for Perry were able to get a hair sample from a Brantley County woman who is the mother of a man implicated, but not charged, in the 1985 Swain murders, according to the district attorney’s news release. Her hair sample was then examined by the same lab that did the DNA testing on the hair found in the eyeglasses in 2001 and those profiles matched, prompting the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to reopen the case in light of the new evidence.

Mitochondrial DNA testing was done using those hair samples prior to Perry’s 2003 trial and excluded him as a possible contributor of the hairs; however, he was convicted using circumstantial evidence at trial, the release said.

On the evening on their murders, the Swains were in bible study at Rising Daughter Baptist Church in Waverly, according to a news release from Georgia Innocence Project.

Before 9 p.m., an attendee left the meeting and found a man inside the church’s vestibule as she was leaving who asked to speak with Harold Swain, 66. She went back inside the prayer meeting to get him and left the church, Higgins’ news release said. Witnesses said they heard a “scuffle” followed by four gunshots.

Thelma, 63, heard the gunshots and ran to the vestibule – that’s when the killer shot her once. By the time the other meeting attendees ran to the back of the church, the killer had left.

The case quickly went cold, Higgins’ release said, but it was reopened by the Camden County Sheriff’s Office in 1998, according to a release from the Georgia Innocence Project.

Within a week, authorities identified Perry as the main suspect based mainly on testimony from an informant who wanted a $25,000 reward and ultimately was paid $12,000 in exchange for testimony – something that was never disclosed to Perry’s attorneys, the release from Georgia Innocence Project said.

Higgins said he consulted with the GBI and the victim’s family, and both agreed with his decision not to prosecute Perry.

“There are times when seeking justice means righting a wrong,” Higgins, who took office Jan. 1, said. “While this case was prosecuted prior to my administration, the new evidence indicates that someone else murdered Harold and Thelma Swain. Mr. Perry is now, and has been since July 2020, a free man. We will continue to examine all the evidence in the case — new and old — as we determine what the next step will be in this investigation.”

Since his release from prison, Perry has been spending time at home with his wife, Brenda, and reconnecting with friends and family, trying to recover and readjust to this new chapter of his life, the news release from Georgia Innocence Project said.

Thirty-six states and Washington, DC, have laws on the books that offer compensation for exonerees, according to the Innocence Project. Georgia isn’t one of them.

The federal standard to compensate those who are wrongfully convicted is a minimum of $50,000 per year of incarceration, plus an additional amount for each year spent on death row. Of the 36 states with compensation laws, nine offer more than $50,000 per year – including Washington, which offers $200,000 per year, according to the Innocence Project.

Late last month, Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters of California introduced the Justice for Exonerees Act, which would amend the federal statute to increase the compensation amount to a minimum of $70,000 per year.

CNN’s Rebekah Riess and Chenelle Terry contributed to this report.

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Baltimore officers shot: 2 officers injured and homicide suspect dead in shooting near mall, police say

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Baltimore Police Department detectives assigned to the US Marshals’ Warrant Apprehension Task Force approached the suspect’s vehicle in the Security Square Mall parking lot Tuesday morning, according to Harrison.

“It was at that time the suspect exited the vehicle and fired multiple rounds at officers, striking two of the Baltimore city detectives,” said Harrison. “Multiple officers returned fire, striking the suspect. That suspect was transported to an area hospital where he has now succumbed to his injuries.”

The suspect was a 32-year-old male who was wanted on both a murder and a handgun warrant, said Harrison. Harrison did not provide any information on the June 19 homicide.

Harrison said the two officers who were shot are in stable condition.

“I am deeply thankful that both the officers are alert and upbeat and wish them a full and speedy recovery,” said Mayor Brandon Scott, who also spoke at the news conference. “Building a safer Baltimore requires us to hold violent offenders accountable.”

The incident is an ongoing police-involved shooting investigation, he said.

CNN’s Leslie Tripp Holland contributed to this report.

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Victims in Golf Course Triple-Murder Were Bound With Tape, Police Say

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Two of the victims of a triple homicide at an Atlanta-area golf course over the July 4 weekend were found bound with tape, according to an arrest warrant.

Paul Pierson, 76, and Henry Valdez, 46, had their hands, legs, and mouths bound when police found their bodies in the bed of a pickup truck parked near the 10th hole of the Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw, Georgia, last Saturday. The body of 46-year-old golf pro Gene Siller was also found near the truck.

Police have identified the alleged murderer as 23-year-old Bryan Anthony Rhoden, who was taken into custody Thursday evening, four days after the bizarre triple homicide stumped authorities.

Rhoden wound up on police radar just hours after the murders last weekend, but cops had not yet connected him to the golf course killings, so he bonded out Tuesday night, booking records show.

Driving a black Maserati Ghibli, according to a separate arrest warrant, he was stopped by Chamblee police on misdemeanor charges including DUI, a headlight violation, providing false identification, driving without insurance, driving an unregistered vehicle, and having the wrong license plate on his car.

Rhoden was taken into custody again on Thursday evening by a multi-agency task force including members of the Chamblee, Georgia Police Department, the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Marshals Service. Rhoden was unarmed and was taken in without a struggle, the sheriff’s office said. In addition to three counts of murder, Rhoden is charged with three counts of aggravated assault and two counts of kidnapping, according to Cobb County Police Chief Tim Cox, who said at a press conference that Rhoden had no accomplices and was a “lone shooter.”

Cobb County police have not said how investigators linked Rhoden, an aspiring rapper who performs under the name B. Rod, to the three killings. He is set to appear virtually from jail before a judge in Cobb County Magistrate Court at 8 p.m. Friday.

Police say Valdez and Pierson, who lived in California and Kansas, respectively, were found dead in the enclosed bed of Pierson’s Dodge Ram 3500 pickup after Rhoden drove the truck onto the 10th hole of the Pinetree Country Club on Saturday afternoon. When Siller, the club’s golf director, approached the vehicle to find out what was going on, Rhoden allegedly shot him in the head and fled on foot.

Police believe Siller was killed because he “witnessed an active crime taking place” but it’s still unclear precisely what that crime was. The relationship between Pierson, Valdez, and Rhoden remains unclear. None have any affiliation with the Pinetree club at all, said Cox, and investigators have not revealed a motive or what prompted Rhoden to drive onto the golf course.

Reached by phone, Siller’s wife, Ashley, declined to comment. Henry Valdez’s sister, Erma, told The Daily Beast, “Henry was a loving son, brother, uncle, and friend. A lover of music, surfing, traveling, and made friends wherever he traveled to. His laugh could erupt a room and his big heart will be missed greatly.”

Little is known about Pierson and Valdez, and Erma Valdez would not speculate as to what her brother was doing in Atlanta. Pierson is the co-founder of EcoServices, an environmental remediation company in Nevada, according to the company’s website. Valdez started an apparel business in 2010, according to California state incorporation records. He also established two other entities in the state, whose activities are not immediately discernible.

Records show Rhoden was previously arrested for allegedly getting into a shootout at Georgia State University over a drug deal gone wrong.

Five years before the golf club triple homicide, Rhoden allegedly shot 19-year-old Shelton Torance Flournoy three times in the chest during an argument over a drug deal in the parking lot of a Georgia State dorm.

Rhoden, who was attending Georgia State at the time, was hit once in the chest. Both men survived and were later charged with assault, attempted murder, and weapons possession. Rhoden was released from the Fulton County Jail on a signature bond three days later, according to jail records. But there is no record of a trial or conviction, and Rhoden’s case was sealed in 2017.

The Georgia State University shootout wasn’t Rhoden’s only previous run in with the law.

In 2020, Atlanta airport police seized nearly $20,000 in suspected drug money from Rhoden as he boarded a flight to Los Angeles. He was never charged with a crime. Rhoden was also arrested last year after a high-speed chase in Indiana, reportedly clocking speeds up to 150 mph.

A Georgia State spokesperson declined to provide further details about Rhoden’s time there as a student.



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Andre HIill shooting: Forensic pathologist rules Andre Hill’s death was a homicide caused by multiple gunshot wounds

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Hill was shot once in the chest and three times in the right leg, according to Dr. Elaine Amoresano, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy.

Adam Coy, the former officer, shot and killed Hill, a 47-year-old Black man, on December 22 within seconds of their encounter. Hill was unarmed and walking toward Coy holding an illuminated cell phone in his left hand, body camera footage shows.

Coy was indicted in February on charges of murder in the commission of a felony, felonious assault and two counts of dereliction of duty — one based on Coy’s failure to use his body camera and one “based on his failure to inform his fellow officer that he felt Andre Hill presented a danger,” said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
The autopsy comes as the United States is still reckoning with its history and current systemic issues of race. The country is coming off of a year of protests calling for police reform after the deaths of Black people such as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks at the hands of law enforcement.

The officer was fired in December

Coy responded to a call around 1:30 a.m. December 22 to reports of a man who had been sitting in his SUV for an extended period, repeatedly turning his engine on and off.

Coy started shooting within a few seconds of seeing Hill and turned his camera on after the shooting. However, the camera’s look-back feature captured 60 seconds of video, with no audio, prior to Coy turning it on.

The body camera footage appears to show Coy and Hill walking toward one another. It’s not clear whether Hill or Coy said anything during their brief interaction.

In the first few seconds of Coy’s body camera video in which audio is available, Coy ordered Hill to get his hands out to the side, ordered him to get on his stomach and warned an officer to not get close because one of Hill’s arms is under the car where he collapsed.

About 37 seconds after the shooting, Coy asked whether a medic was coming.

A report prepared by the Columbus police chief after the shooting said an officer who responded with Coy said she heard Coy say he saw a gun, and that Coy yelled, “There’s a gun in his other hand, there’s a gun in his other hand!”
As a result of the shooting, Coy was fired in December. Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan, who stepped down in January, said in a statement in December the evidence against Coy provided “solid rationale” for termination.

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Area realtor killed, body dumped in New Orleans after trying to sell bike on Facebook

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The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office announced that an area realtor is dead after being shot in Jefferson Parish over the weekend. According to JPSO, the body of Joseph Vindel was dumped in the Garden District of New Orleans after he went missing trying to sell a bike on Facebook. Between 10 a.m. and noon Sunday, JPSO said Vindel met with Jalen Harvey, 20, at an apartment complex in the 2100 block of Manhattan Boulevard to sell a dirt bike. During the course of the transaction, the suspect shot and killed the victim. JPSO said Harvey then drove Vindel’s vehicle to the 2300 block of Coliseum Street in New Orleans and abandoned it. Vindel’s remains were still inside the vehicle, according to JPSO. Sunday night, JPSO was contacted by the victim’s family and became involved in the investigation. Investigators were able to determine Vindel’s last known location, and located the victim’s dirt bike at an apartment. Detectives found Harvey at his apartment and during questioning, Harvey admitted to shooting the victim and taking the vehicle to New Orleans, according to JPSO. JPSO said detectives are currently seeking an arrest warrant for Harvey for first-degree murder. JPSO said the gun in the incident was recovered.

JEFFERSON PARISH, La. —

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office announced that an area realtor is dead after being shot in Jefferson Parish over the weekend.

According to JPSO, the body of Joseph Vindel was dumped in the Garden District of New Orleans after he went missing trying to sell a bike on Facebook.

Between 10 a.m. and noon Sunday, JPSO said Vindel met with Jalen Harvey, 20, at an apartment complex in the 2100 block of Manhattan Boulevard to sell a dirt bike.

During the course of the transaction, the suspect shot and killed the victim.

JPSO said Harvey then drove Vindel’s vehicle to the 2300 block of Coliseum Street in New Orleans and abandoned it. Vindel’s remains were still inside the vehicle, according to JPSO.

Sunday night, JPSO was contacted by the victim’s family and became involved in the investigation.

Investigators were able to determine Vindel’s last known location, and located the victim’s dirt bike at an apartment.

Detectives found Harvey at his apartment and during questioning, Harvey admitted to shooting the victim and taking the vehicle to New Orleans, according to JPSO.

JPSO said detectives are currently seeking an arrest warrant for Harvey for first-degree murder.

JPSO said the gun in the incident was recovered.

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Stockton man arrested, accused of Discovery Bay homicide, Antioch drive-by shooting

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A 26-year-old man from Stockton is under arrest in connection with a homicide in Discovery Bay and a drive-by shooting on first responders in Antioch.First responders were with police on a medical emergency call just before 9 p.m. Saturday night. While helping the patient, a silver SUV drove by, and someone inside started shooting, authorities said.Both a firefighter and a paramedic were hit, and both are expected to recover, officials said. An ambulance and police car were also struck in the shooting. After a chase, officers said they were able to arrest the suspect, 26-year-old Darryon Williams, of Stockton.Williams is also facing a homicide charge after Antioch police asked the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office to conduct a welfare check at a home in Discovery Bay for a person related to their case.While at the home, deputies found the body of 64-year-old Michael Iliff of Discovery Bay, the sheriff’s office said.Now, authorities say they want to find Williams’ 4-year-old son and Kimberly Meeks, the child’s mother.They believe she is driving a dark-colored Audi SUV with the license plate 8UKN742.

A 26-year-old man from Stockton is under arrest in connection with a homicide in Discovery Bay and a drive-by shooting on first responders in Antioch.

First responders were with police on a medical emergency call just before 9 p.m. Saturday night. While helping the patient, a silver SUV drove by, and someone inside started shooting, authorities said.

Both a firefighter and a paramedic were hit, and both are expected to recover, officials said. An ambulance and police car were also struck in the shooting.

After a chase, officers said they were able to arrest the suspect, 26-year-old Darryon Williams, of Stockton.

Williams is also facing a homicide charge after Antioch police asked the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office to conduct a welfare check at a home in Discovery Bay for a person related to their case.

While at the home, deputies found the body of 64-year-old Michael Iliff of Discovery Bay, the sheriff’s office said.

Now, authorities say they want to find Williams’ 4-year-old son and Kimberly Meeks, the child’s mother.

They believe she is driving a dark-colored Audi SUV with the license plate 8UKN742.

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South Dakota’s AG charged with 3 misdemeanors in fatal crash

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PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota’s Republican attorney general was charged Thursday with three misdemeanors for striking and killing a man with his car last summer, avoiding more serious felony charges in a case that raised questions about how the state’s top law enforcement official first reported the crash.

Jason Ravnsborg could face up to 30 days in jail and up to a $500 fine on each charge: careless driving, driving out of his lane and operating a motor vehicle while on his phone.

Ravensborg said he was grateful that the legal system assumes his innocence — for now — while relatives of the man killed in the collision, 55-year-old Joseph Boever, said they were disappointed but not surprised that the attorney general was only facing misdemeanor charges.

Hyde County Deputy State’s Attorney Emily Sovell said the evidence simply didn’t support felony charges of vehicular homicide or manslaughter, which could have meant years of prison time. She noted Ravnsborg wasn’t intoxicated, and that a manslaughter charge would have required the state to show he “consciously and unjustifiably” disregarded a substantial risk.

“At best, his conduct was negligent, which is insufficient to bring criminal charges in South Dakota,” Beadle County State’s Attorney Michael Moore, who helped handle the case, said.

Ravnsborg, who was elected to his first term in 2018, initially told authorities he thought he had struck a deer or another large animal as he drove home to Pierre from a Republican fundraiser late on Sept. 12. He said he had searched the unlit area with a cellphone flashlight and didn’t realize he had killed a man until the next day when he returned to the accident scene on U.S. 14 near Highmore.

Crash investigators said in November that Ravnsborg was distracted when he veered onto the shoulder of the highway where Boever was walking. But prosecutors took months more to make a charging decision in the crash, launching an investigation that considered cellphone GPS data, video footage from along Ravnsborg’s route and DNA evidence.

Ravnsborg said he had not been drinking before the crash, and he handed over his electronic devices to investigators. A toxicology report from a blood sample taken roughly 15 hours after the crash showed no alcohol in Ravnsborg’s system. Investigators said Thursday that they found no evidence he was drinking alcohol in the hours before the crash.

Boever’s family had questioned Ravnsborg’s account and expressed frustration as five months passed while they waited for a charging decision.

Nick Nemec, Boever’s cousin, said Thursday he was “disappointed, but not surprised” at the charges. He called South Dakota’s manslaughter law “weak” and that he expected his family to take civil action against Ravnsborg.

“I was afraid the charge would be something on the order of crossing the white line,” Nemec said. “And that’s exactly what the charge was.”

Ravnsborg said in a statement, “I appreciate, more than ever, that the presumption of innocence placed within our legal system continues to work.”

He added that he could not imagine the “pain and loss” of Boever’s family.

Moore, the state’s attorney, said the misdemeanor charges were the “right decision” but that he didn’t feel good about it.

“Obviously when a person dies, we want to know what happened. But we’re limited by the investigation and by the facts,” he said. “And we can’t compel someone to tell us. I mean, there’s just nowhere else to go.”

Despite the charge accusing Ravnsborg of being on his cellphone, he was not actually on his device at the time of the crash, authorities said. They said phone records showed he had been using his phone about one minute before.

Prosecutors determined from cellphone records that Ravnsborg walked by Boever’s body while he walked the crash scene with his cellphone flashlight. But Sovell noted that it was a “very dark night” with no lighting on the road and that there was no evidence that either Ravnsborg or the sheriff who responded to the crash saw Boever’s body.

A crash reconstruction expert from Wyoming and the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation assisted the South Dakota Highway Patrol in the investigation. Such accidents would ordinarily be investigated by the South Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which answers to the attorney general’s office. The other agencies took on the investigation to avoid a conflict of interest.

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This story has been corrected to delete an erroneous mention that Ravnsborg could face up to a year in jail; prosecutor said each of the three misdemeanors is punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a fine.

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