The decision so far is no justice for Jermaine Brisco.
The 29-year-old remains under indictment on charges of second degree murder, first degree murder of unborn child, obstruction of justice and cruelty to juvenile.
It all stems from the November 9, 2016 killing of Raven Veal, a 22 year-old pregnant woman in Algiers.
Brisco is accused of shooting Veal, then using her car to run her over. All of this took place while her three year old was in the backseat of the vehicle.
The hung jury came at the end of a four day long trial in Orleans Parish Criminal Court.
Prosecutors argued Brisco, the father of her unborn child, shot her in the neck and pushed her out of the driver’s seat of her Ford Focus. He then took the wheel and ran over Veal three times.
All while Veal’s three year old daughter was in a child seat in the back of the vehicle.
The prosecution’s star witness, Duvuri Devall, reportedly was an eyewitness to the event, then helped Brisco clean up and dispose of Veal’s car. He was subsequently charged as an accomplice.
But prosecutors argued that Brisco killed Veal for the proceeds of her $400,000 life insurance policy, of which he was sole beneficiary, according to the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate.
The defense attorney charged that Devall was “literally making it up as he goes, because he knows all he has to do is point the finger.”
After eight hours of deliberation, the announced it was hopelessly deadlocked.
A pretrial hearing will take place December 1 and a new date for the trial will be announced.
