Suspect, 19, released; murder trial delayed

• By JOE GYAN JR.
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Jan 6, 2009 - Page: 1B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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A state judge ordered a 19-year-old man released from Parish Prison on Monday because prosecutors were not prepared to try him on an attempted second-degree murder charge stemming from the brutal beating and burning death of another man in 2007.

Denako Duheart, who was being held on a $250,000 bond, was released on his own recognizance.

“He should be relieved of his bond obligation under the law,’’ prosecutor Mark Pethke told District Judge Trudy White after defense attorney Chiquita Tate said she was ready for trial but the state was not.

Duheart and his brother, Dearius, were scheduled to stand trial Monday on a count of attempted second-degree murder in the death of 39-year-old Jason Fourmy in October 2007.

White rescheduled the trial for April 27.

Dearius Duheart was released from Parish Prison in August after posting a $250,000 bond.

The Duheart brothers initially were booked on a count of first-degree murder in Fourmy’s death, but the charges were reduced in April because two witnesses were slain in November 2007, Pethke said previously.

Tate said she will ask that the Duheart brothers be tried separately.

“All of the evidence shows my guy is innocent,’’ Tate said after Monday’s court proceeding. “He (Denako) and Jason were friends.’’

Flitcher Bell, who represents Dearius Duheart, also proclaimed his client’s innocence.

“There was no direct witness that put my client with the victim,’’ he said. “You can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip. I think he (Dearius) is a victim of circumstance.’’

Pethke declined comment after meeting with Fourmy’s mother, Trudy Fourmy.

“At this point I have no other choice but to put my faith in the system,’’ she said.