Last June, family members of Trina Mercadel, a mother of four and grandmother to seven, learned New Orleans police found her fatally shot inside a burning SUV in the St. Roch neighborhood. On Thursday (April 11), the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office announced a grand jury had indicted Charles Taylor on murder and other charges in her death.
Taylor, 39, faces charges of second-degree murder and obstruction justice in a homicide investigation, according to a news release from Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office. NOPD arrested him on the murder charge on Dec. 29, and the indictment added the obstruction charge.
Mercadel, 44, was found inside her burning maroon Chevrolet Suburban in the 3200 block of Deers Street shortly before 5:30 a.m. June 10. Domonique Mercadel, 20, her daughter, said in June that her mother bought the Suburban “for her kids and her grandkids,” who often got together for outings.
Taylor’s arrest in late December had not been previously announced by NOPD. He has been jailed at the Orleans Justice Center since then, on a $300,000 bond, which was set by Orleans Parish Magistrate Commissioner Robert Blackburn, court records show. Criminal District Judge Camille Buras kept his bond at the same amount.
Taylor faces a mandatory life prison sentence if convicted on the murder charge.
The district attorney’s office on Thursday also announced indictments in two additional homicides:
Damyia McInnis, 28, is charged in a Dec. 25, 2018, shooting in Algiers that killed 48-year-old Leon Bush and injured a 43-year-old woman. McInnis was indicted on second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and obstruction of justice in a homicide investigation charges.
Buras left McInnis’ bond at $500,000 on the murder charge after the indictment was read, and said bond amounts for the additional charges will be set by the trial judge.
Samuel Harris, 19, was indicted on second-degree murder, obstruction of justice in a homicide investigation and a felon in possession of a firearm charges. He is accused in a Dec. 30, 2018, shooting at North Derbigny and Mandeville streets.
Police said Laverne Patton, 34, was shot in the side and died four hours later at the hospital.
Buras left Harris’ bond at $500,000 bond on the murder count, and said bond on the additional charges would be set by the trial judge.
Heather Nolan contributed to this report.
via nola.comhttps://www.nola.com
0 Comments:
Post a Comment