February 2020 Press Releases

Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro and his staff are mourning the death of veteran investigator Mel Ryan, who passed away Wednesday morning (Feb. 26), four days shy of his 71st birthday. Born Leonard Melvin Ryan II, the native New Orleanian devoted most of his life to serving public safety as a dedicated law enforcement professional. The graduate of Warren…

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Thursday (Feb. 20) secured a murder indictment against a Gretna woman accused of killing an Uptown man in November 2017 to claim a life insurance payout, after she drained the victim’s retirement savings account. Yasha Ayers was charged with the second-degree murder of 65-year-old Darryl Lacoste, obstruction of justice, insurance fraud and bank fraud…

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Thursday (Feb. 20) secured a indictment charging a man with the aggravated rape of a young boy inside an Algiers apartment prior to Hurricane Katrina. Luis Rodriguez Jr. was charged with a single count of aggravated rape in the indictment handed up by an Orleans Parish grand jury. Rodriguez, 33, faces a mandatory lifetime…

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office late Thursday (Feb. 13) secured a double-murder conviction for a reputed Calliope Ghost Gang member responsible for killing two men and wounding two others in a June 2017 drive-by shooting attack on South Carrollton Avenue. An Orleans Parish jury deliberated five hours before finding Dwight Washington guilty of two counts of second-degree murder, in connection…

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Thursday (Feb. 13) secured a murder indictment against a gunman accused of killing a store assistant manager last month inside the New Orleans East Walmart Supercenter. Kentrell Banks (alias Kentrell Baham) was charged with the second-degree murder of 28-year-old London McKnight and with the attempted second-degree murder of a 25-year-old woman in the two-count…

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Thursday (Feb. 13) secured an indictment charging a New Orleans felon identified through DNA results with the rape of a Texas man beneath a Treme freeway overpass in May 2017. Eric Hill was charged with second-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping in the two-count indictment handed up by an Orleans Parish grand jury. Hill, 51,…

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Thursday (Feb. 13) secured a murder indictment against a New Orleans man whose botched armed robbery of two men outside a 7th Ward home resulted in a fatal shooting. Emmanuel Henry was charged with the second-degree murder of 56-year-old Carl Batiste, and with the armed robbery and attempted second-degree murder of Batiste’s 55-year-old friend…

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Wednesday (Feb. 5) secured the guilty plea of a New Orleans man who admitted mid-trial that he participated in two 2018 armed robberies with two accomplices. After hearing opening arguments and the first few witnesses at his trial in the courtroom of Criminal District Judge Robin Pittman, Michael Christopher asked to abandon his plea…

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Monday (Feb. 3) announced it has secured a guilty plea and 20-year state prison sentence for a gunman who fatally shot a Little Woods man during a disputed drug deal in 2015. Ronald “Money” Claude averted his scheduled second-degree murder trial by pleading guilty Jan. 30 to an amended charge of manslaughter, in connection…

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office on Monday (Feb. 3) announced it had secured a third manslaughter guilty plea from a convicted New Orleans killer, as part of a plea agreement that extends his state prison sentence to 140 years. Darnell “Red” Braud averted a first-degree murder trial when he pleaded guilty to the amended charge of manslaughter in connection with…