Gunmen found guilty of Mardi Gras 2018 double murder

NEW ORLEANS, La. (WVUE) -The gunmen in a Mardi Gras 2018 double murder were found guilty Thursday, according to Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro.

Kendall Barnes and Derrick Groves opened fire on five people, killing two, in the Lower 9th Ward Mardi Gras night..

The jury deliberated four hours late Thursday night before finding Barnes and Groves guilty of second-degree murder in the deaths of 26-year-old Jamar Robinson and 21-year-old Byron Jackson.

They will receive a mandatory lifetime prison term for each murder.

Jurors also found the pair guilty as charged on two of three counts each of attempted second-degree murder, in connection with the shooting in the 5400 block of St. Claude Avenue.

The defendants were found not guilty on one attempted murder charge. Barnes alone also was found guilty as charged on two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Barnes, 23, and Groves, 22, opened fire with assault-style rifles on the five victims outside a crowded Mardi Gras party. Three victims were strafed by gunfire as they sat inside a parked Nissan Altima, while two others were wounded while on the sidewalk near the corner of St. Claude Avenue and Andry Street.

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