Deaths force lower charges in ’07 slaying
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If not for two dead witnesses, three people originally booked into Parish Prison on counts of first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping would still be facing those counts, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
The defendants also wouldn’t be eligible for bond.
As it now stands, though, Dearius Duheart, 19, was granted a $250,000 bond at a court hearing Wednesday after pleading innocent to a reduced count of attempted second-degree murder.
Duheart’s brother, Denako Duheart, 23, who is facing the same reduced count, is scheduled to enter a plea on Tuesday.
It is not clear when the third defendant, Andrea Deon Williams, 39, will enter a plea on the same reduced charge.
Prosecutor Mark Pethke said the evidence available to him supports the reduced counts.
“If we still had witnesses, (the charge) would still be first-degree murder,” Pethke said.
Dearius Duheart’s attorney Flitcher Bell said the charges were reduced because there is no physical evidence connecting his client to the crime.
“The state is grasping at straws because of the severity of the case,” he said.
As for the death of the potential witnesses, Bell said they were drug addicts with questionable credibility.
“I would love to have them here and get them on the witness stand,” Bell said. “I think my guy got tied up in all of this because of his name. You can pick your friends but not your family.”
First-degree murder carries a sentence of death or life in prison. The sentence for attempted second-degree murder is up to 50 years in prison.
The Duheart brothers both of 1151 N. 39th St. and Williams, 6140 W. Monarch Ave., were booked into Parish Prison in the death of Jason Fourmy.
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