September 2019 Press Releases

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Thursday (Sept. 26) secured a murder indictment against a gunman accused of beating, robbing and fatally shooting a man at a New Orleans East bus stop on Thanksgiving Day 2016. Erin Alonzo is charged with the second-degree murder of 22-year-old Terrance Jackson, armed robbery and obstruction of justice in a homicide investigation, in the…

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Tuesday (Sept. 24) secured a 10-year prison sentence for a New Orleans man who pleaded guilty in June to a series of carjackings and other crimes. Kentrell Lockett, 19, pleaded guilty in June to eight crimes, including three counts of carjacking, two counts of motor vehicle theft, and single counts of aggravated assault with…

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Tuesday (Sept. 24) announced it secured a guilty plea and 35-year prison sentence for a Louisiana state prison inmate linked by DNA evidence to six unsolved cold-case rapes committed in New Orleans in 1986-87. Alfred Berry, 52, pleaded guilty Sept. 6 to six counts of second-degree rape and six counts of second-degree kidnapping, as…

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Friday (Sept. 20) secured the conviction of a New Orleans man who raped a juvenile relative in her mother’s home in 2017. An Orleans Parish jury deliberated three hours before finding Regan Preatto guilty of third-degree rape and of aggravated crime against nature. Preatto faces a state prison term of up to 25 years…

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro on Thursday (Sept. 19) announced the creation of a specialized multi-agency unit that will coordinate and carry out the prosecutions of human trafficking cases in New Orleans. The SALT unit (Sex and Labor Trafficking) will operate under the direction of Assistant District Attorney Carolyn Livanos, working in conjunction with investigators from the FBI, Louisiana State Police,…

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Thursday (Sept. 19) secured a murder indictment against a New Orleans woman accused of fatally shooting another woman three months ago in New Orleans East. Candice Lewis was charged with the second-degree murder of 22-year-old Nia Lassai and with obstructing justice in a homicide investigation in the two-count indictment handed up by an Orleans…

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Friday (Sept. 13) secured guilty pleas and 60-year state prison sentences for two gunmen responsible for killing a New Orleans East store clerk during a botched armed robbery last year. Farnell Jackson Jr. (pictured above left) and Frank Sams Jr. (above right) averted their scheduled murder trial by entering into a plea agreement before…

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Thursday (Sept. 12) secured the manslaughter conviction of a gunman who fatally shot another man during an encounter near the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain in 2017. An Orleans Parish jury deliberated 5 hours and 20 minutes before finding Darnell “Red” Braud guilty of manslaughter instead of second-degree murder in the slaying of 22-year-old…

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Thursday (Sept. 12) secured the double-murder conviction of a New Orleans man who fatally shot two brothers as they sat inside a car parked in the 7th Ward three years ago. An Orleans Parish jury deliberated just over two hours before finding Antoine “Tweezy” Edwards guilty on two counts of second-degree murder in connection…

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Friday (Sept. 6) announced it had secured a guilty plea and 20-year prison sentence for a New Orleans man who raped a juvenile relative more than five years ago. Kendrick Nelson averted his scheduled Sept. 16 trial for first-degree rape by entering into a plea agreement Thursday (Sept. 5) before Criminal District Judge Franz…