A “heated” argument between two men preceded the fatal shooting of one of them Thursday afternoon (April 25) in Algiers, according to New Orleans police documents.
Darnell Celestin, 34, has been booked on a charge of second-degree murder in connection with the death of a 30-year-old man whose body was found outside a gas station after 2 p.m. in the 2600 block of General DeGaulle Drive. The Orleans Public Defender’s office represented Celestin at his first appearance hearing on Friday (April 26).
Authorities have not publicly identified the 30-year-old man who was killed. Records say New Orleans EMS pronounced him dead after he was shot in his back, near his right shoulder blade.
An affidavit for the warrant for Celestin’s arrest, sworn by an NOPD detective, states a witness told police that prior to the gunfire, Celestin argued with the 30-year-old outside the Shell gas station. The argument became “very heated,” prompting the same witness who knew one of the men to run inside a church across the street, the detective wrote.
The witness, along with several others who were inside the church, told police they heard “multiple gunshots,” then saw the 30-year-old man run toward the gas station, the affidavit states. Gas station staff members told police they saw the 30-year-old man run from the direction of the church and collapse near the door of the gas station’s convenience store.
Police found 12 9mm spent shell casings near the church, the detective wrote.
The witness who referred to the argument between the two men said just before the gunfire there was no one else outside the church except Celestin and the 30-year-old man, the affidavit states. The witness picked Celestin out of a 6-photograph lineup.
Detectives obtained video from the Shell station captured before the fatal shooting, the affidavit states, and it showed Celestin at the gas station prior to the shooting. The affidavit does not say what Celestin is shown to be doing in the video.
NOPD said in a news release police arrested Celestin about 6:45 p.m. Thursday in the 3000 block of Holiday Drive in Algiers.
Orleans Parish Magistrate Commissioner Harry Cantrell set Celestin’s bond at $450,000.
NOPD investigating homicide on General DeGaulle in Algiers
https://www.nola.com
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