A Marrero man accused of shooting three men in three days -- killing one -- was released from prison last year after a Jefferson Parish judge vacated an illegal life sentence he received under the state’s old habitual offender laws, according to court records.
Coroner’s office identifies 55-year-old gunned down at Marrero car wash
Alonzo Ford, 43, was arrested Monday (April 1) by Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives and booked with second-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree murder, two counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and obstruction of justice, said Capt. Jason Rivarde, spokesman for the department.
Detectives accused Ford of resorting to gunfire during arguments with victims in two separate Marrero shootings.
Lawrence Hensley, 55, succumbed to his injuries one day after he was shot in the head at a carwash in the 6300 block of Acre Road in Marrero on Monday evening (April 1), Rivarde said.
Two men, ages 50 and 52, were shot about 2:30 a.m. Saturday following a dispute in the 6200 block of Second Avenue, Rivarde said. The 50-year-old man was shot in the head and still listed in critical condition Wednesday, according to authorities. The other victim suffered minor injuries.
Ford had apparently returned to the Marrero area following his release from prison on May 25, according to the Louisiana Department of Corrections. Ford was freed after a Jefferson Parish court ruled in May that his life sentence, handed down in 1997 after a third-strike conviction, was now illegal, court records said
Jon Benz, the public defender who represented Ford in the May 17 hearing, did not return a call Wednesday requesting comment.
But according to records from the 24th Judicial District court, Ford had racked up enough felony convictions to earn the life sentence under the state’s old habitual offender laws, which were enacted in the 1990s to curb the rise in crime.
Ford was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to negligent homicide and illegal possession of stolen things for accidentally shooting and killing his friend, Christian Colar, 21, in 1993. Ford was just 18 when he fired the gun while rapping and singing along to a song, authorities said. He went on to receive a first-offender pardon in the case.
In 1995, Ford was convicted of two counts of attempted second-degree murder and illegal possession of stolen things for shooting two men at a Lapalco Boulevard carwash in Marrero, according to Sheriff’s Office and court records. Then-Judge Ronald Loumiet – the same sentencing judge from the negligent homicide case – ordered Ford to serve three years in prison, court records said.
Ford’s third strike came February 27, 1997, when a jury convicted him of possession of crack cocaine with the intent to distribute, court records said.
The Jefferson Parish district attorney’s office charged Ford as a multiple offender based on his convictions for possession of stolen property and attempted murder. He given the mandatory punishment of life in prison without the possibility of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.
State legislators eventually made changes to the habitual offender laws in 2001 that would have made Ford ineligible for a life sentence, had he committed the drug crime after the modifications.
But courts had ruled the changes weren’t retroactive. Then, on Jan. 30, 2018, Louisiana Supreme Court justices decided under John Esteen versus the State of Louisiana that old, illegal sentences could and should be corrected by district courts.
A month after that ruling, Ford filed his own motion to correct the sentence. The Jefferson Parish district attorney’s office agreed that Ford should be resentenced on the drug charge, but argued the range should be between 20 to 60 years in prison, court records said.
Judge Adrian Adams vacated Ford’s life sentence and re-sentenced him to 20 years with credit for time served on May 17, court records said.
Ford, who had already spent 21 years in prison, was released about a week later, according to Ken Pastorick, spokesman for the department of corrections.
Now back behind bars, Ford was being held Thursday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna in lieu of a $1.27 million bond.
via nola.comhttps://www.nola.com
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