A Kenner man is facing either life imprisonment or a death sentence after being found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2020 shooting death of a convenience store clerk.
A Jefferson Parish jury deliberated for about an hour before returning their verdict Wednesday night, convicting Lamonte Loggins in the death of Abd El Ghader Sylla. Loggins will be sentenced on August 9.
Loggins was one of two men who rolled a convenience store on Williams Boulevard at West Esplanade Avenue in the early morning hours of November 30, 2020. Prosecutors told the jury that Loggins fired the shot that killed Sylla, who called 911 in his dying moments to summon help.
According to prosecutors, Loggins and his older brother, Eric Rodgers, planned the armed robbery and cased the business before bursting into the store. Prosecutors said Sylla complied with Loggins's and Rodgers's demands in hopes they would spare his life. Still, prosecutors said, Loggins beat Sylla with his pistol before shooting Sylla in the chest.
Loggins and Rodgers then fled Louisiana, driving to Biloxi before catching a bus to Memphis. Prosecutors say Rodgers later called police and admitted to the robbery, telling them that Loggins shot and killed Sylla. That tip led to their arrests.
Rodgers accepted a plea deal and pleaded guilty in 2022 to manslaughter, armed robbery, and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
