On April 30, 2017, Deneen McCormick Phillips experienced a nightmare she still hasn’t been able to wake up from.
That was the day her son, 24-year-old Lance McCormick, was killed in the doorway of a New Orleans East gas station, where he’d walked to get something to eat around lunchtime.
“That Sunday afternoon when he left the house, I know he had no idea he was going to run into the devil himself,” Phillips said Thursday (March 28), speaking at an emotional sentencing hearing for the man convicted in her son’s death. “Charles Monroe, I don’t know if you ever knew love or what love is, but Lance did … you are pure evil, disgusting. It makes me sick to look at you.”
A jury convicted Monroe, 36, of second-degree murder in McCormick’s death in a 10-2 vote last week after a two-day trial in Criminal District Court.
Assistant District Attorneys Michael Trummel and Inga Petrovich said video surveillance from Discount Zone in the 6700 block of Chef Menteur Highway showed McCormick collapsing outside the store, struggling to his feet then attempting to fight off his attacker inside before he was shot in the head. A New Orleans police officer identified Monroe as the gunman from a still-frame photo taken from the video.
Defense attorneys Jennifer Hull and Brian Woods of the Orleans Public Defenders argued that identification was unreliable and not corroborated by physical evidence. The photo was of poor quality and the gunman’s face was partially covered, they said.
Hull and Woods on Thursday filed a motion for a new trial based in part on the split jury vote and on Criminal District Judge Paul Bonin’s decision to allow the state to introduce results of a gunshot residue test that he previously said were inadmissible.
Bonin denied both motions, and sentenced Monroe to life in prison without parole.
Louisiana voters amended the state constitution to prohibit non-unanimous verdicts in criminal cases in November, but the new law only applies in cases for offenses committed after Jan. 1, 2019. The U.S. Supreme Court said last week -- on the first day of Monroe’s trial -- it will consider overturning a criminal conviction by a 10-2 jury vote in a 2016 Orleans Parish case.
‘You know what you did’
McCormick was ambitious, “a bright, shining light,” according to his mom. He was always smiling, always showing his teeth and he was an all-around friendly guy, she said. He passed the civil service test not long before his death and had the choice of becoming a police officer or a firefighter.
McCormick’s aunt, Karen Howard, said her nephew was “compassionate” and loved by many in their neighborhood.
He didn’t have children, but he treated other people’s kids as his own, she said. McCormick begged to borrow her car on more than one occasion so he could help a neighbor and bring their children to a doctor’s appointment, Howard said.
Howard said she answered the door when police showed up to tell them McCormick was dead.
“And I can’t now, just like then, imagine why,” she said, sobbing from the witness stand.
McCormick had a 24-hour bus ticket, a badge that belonged to his father and 59 cents on him when he was killed, Howard said.
“That’s what he was murdered for,” she sobbed. “That’s what this man thought Lance’s life was worth – 59 cents.”
Howard’s sobs faded and her voice turned to anger as she accused Monroe of trying to make her nephew look like a “thug.”
“We saw Mr. Monroe on that tape,” she said sternly. “It’s no doubt who that was. It would be a disservice to our family … it would be a disservice to this city to put that murderer back on the street.”
Phillips, who Howard said was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer the day of McCormick’s funeral, cried as her sister spoke. Her sobs echoed through the tiny courtroom on the third floor of the courthouse as a man wrapped his arms around her trying to console her.
“That is not a man,” Howard said, looking directly at Monroe. “You will never get away from your conscience. You know what you did.”
Phillips, who was calm and collected as she read from pages of notes on the witness stand, said Monroe associated with a group she called “scum that infests these neighborhoods.” She accused him of bringing down the city and its people.
“You are a worthless piece of garbage that doesn’t deserve any of my time and thoughts,” she said.
She told Monroe he’d see her son again, and that when he did McCormick would “be one of those flaming angels taking vengeance on you for the cruelness you’ve done.”
“I want the same amount of mercy shown for you as when you put those bullets in Lance and blew my son’s brains out,” she said. “People want to tell me how I should feel, and forgive and move on. There will never be any forgiveness for you. Never, never, never.”
Involvement in unrelated homicide under investigation
Before he was sentenced Thursday, Trummel put into evidence an arrest warrant for Monroe in connection with a 2017 triple homicide he said the district attorney’s office still is investigating.
Hull and Woods objected, saying the warrant was irrelevant to the current case. They noted Monroe was released from jail 120 days after his arrest because the district attorney’s office had not filed charges, as required by law.
In that case, police said three people were killed in a shooting in the 6700 block of Brutus Street March 18, 2017. Police booked Monroe on three second-degree murder charges Aug. 11, 2017. He was in jail at the time on a second-degree murder charge connected to McCormick’s slaying.
There is no statute of limitations on filing murder charges in Louisiana.
via nola.comhttps://www.nola.com
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