Yesterday District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's office announced that a man pleaded guilty for the killing of a friend two years ago while staying as a guest in the victim's Irish Channel home.
62-year-old Charles E. Jones, averted a scheduled murder trial by pleading guilty to an amended charge of manslaughter in connection with the killing of 69-year-old Raymond Webster Jr. The victim was killed inside his half of a shotgun-double home. Jones was visiting in the 800 block of 4th Street, minutes before midnight on July 25, 2017.
Under terms of the plea agreement approved by the victim's family, Jones admitted responsibility for Webster's death before Criminal District Judge Camille Buras. Jones is to be sentenced Aug. 14 after the judge and defendant hear impact statements from Webster's family.
According to NOPD, the victim's adult son who lived in the other side of the shotgun-double heard a loud noise and entered his father's home to investigate. He found his father dead on the floor and an injured Jones claiming that the victim had tried to kill him with a hammer and a shotgun. Police said the victim's son struck Jones with the shotgun and kept the weapon trained on him until police arrived.
"This was a difficult case, in that only two people know what really transpired in that house, and one of them is dead," Cannizzaro said. "Given the circumstances of this incident and the defendant's age, we feel the agreed-upon sentence is a just outcome that satisfies both the victim's family and our public safety concerns."
Assistant District Attorney Michael Trummel prosecuted the case.