Michael Smith Jr. (Slidell Police Dept.)
Slidell, La. – Police make an arrest in the first homicide in St. Tammany Parish this year.
Slidell police booked 20-year-old Michael Smith Jr. with the second-degree murder of 21-year-old Warren Pryor.
Officers say Smith gunned down Pryor in Slidell on January 7, then drove the victim's car to New Orleans. The car was later found burned.
Officers say Smith surrendered on January 8 to New Orleans police in a different homicide case. Smith was charged with one count of second-degree murder for the killing of Joshua Walker.
Slidell police transferred Smith, who was being held in Orleans Parish Prison, to the Slidell City Jail Monday morning to be officially charged with the January 7 murder.
Slidell Police Chief Randy Smith says, "I am proud to say that the first homicide of 2013 [in St. Tammany Parish] is solved. Our detectives worked diligently to gather the evidence they needed to make an arrest."
Investigators are still working to determine the motive for the Slidell murder.