Case against Carnival parade shooters falls apart
No charges are filed in Carnival shooting
Five people injured after Endymion
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
By Laura Maggi
The Times-Picayune
The Orleans Parish district attorney’s office last week refused to press forward with attempted murder charges against two teenagers accused of shooting into a crowd of Carnival revelers on Canal Street after the Endymion parade, citing witness problems common in New Orleans criminal cases.
Prosecutors decided against charging Inassio Farria, 17, and Bryson McDonald, 18, because of a “a lack of victim-witness cooperation and other evidentiary issues,” Dalton Savwoir, a spokesman for District Attorney Keva Landrum-Johnson, said Tuesday. Savwoir would not elaborate on the witness problems.
Farria and McDonald were arrested not long after the Feb. 2 shooting at the corner of Canal and Baronne streets, which happened shortly after the Endymion parade had passed. Five people were injured, including an 18-year-old man the New Orleans Police Department has publicly identified as the “intended victim.” Three of the other victims, including two women from out of state, were hit in their legs. Another man was struck in the elbow.
A large number of officers descended onto the chaotic scene, which was littered with parade debris and people milling around after the parade. Police leaders estimated more than 60 officers had been stationed on the Canal Street neutral ground near the scene during the parade.
According to a police report by 8th District Detective Louis Labat, five officers caught Farria and McDonald, who were running from the shooting scene and pointed at by people in the crowd.
Last month during a preliminary court hearing, defense attorneys for Farria and McDonald questioned whether police had nabbed the correct men, pointing out that no weapons were recovered and the department hadn’t performed gunpowder residue tests on the suspects.
“The case against them was very weak,” said Dylan Utley, who represented McDonald. “We felt they were swept up in the chaos and misidentified.”
Police Department Assistant Superintendent Marlon Defillo called the DA’s decision to refuse the case a “disappointment.”
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