4 teens accused of carjacking, dragging woman to death will be tried as adults, D.A. announces

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Four teenagers accused of carjacking Linda Frickey and dragging her to death will be tried as adults on second-degree murder charges, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams announced in a press conference.

The accused killers are 17-year-old John Honore and three 15-year-old girls; Briniyah Baker, Marquel Curtis, and Lenyra Theophile.

Court records indicate all four are being held on $1 million bonds.

In a press conference on Thurs., April 28, Williams said the juvenile court system is not set up to handle cases this severe.

“Four or five years is just not enough,” he said. “The juvenile sentencing limits would be inadequate to ensure that these young people are appropriately held accountable for taking a life.”

He added that his office is working with NOLA Public Schools to better enforce current truancy laws, making sure children are in school and laying out penalties for parents.

If convicted, all four will face life in prison, a mandatory sentence for second-degree murder in the state of Louisiana.

Frickey, 73, was killed March 21 when police say the four juveniles carjacked her shortly after 1:30 p.m. and dragged her more than a block in Mid-City until her arm was severed.

“We really weren’t looking forward to juvenile because that wouldn’t be enough sentence,” said Jinny Lynn-Griffin, Frickey’s younger sister. “What sentence is enough? It’s really unknown, but as adults they’ll get a harsher sentence, and that’s what we’re after. The second-degree murder.”

“This was one of the most violent carjackings we’ve ever seen; these young people dragged Mrs. Frickey, severing her arm as they all fled the scene in her car. Today’s grand jury decision to indict these young people for Second Degree Murder is fair and ensures they are appropriately held accountable,” Williams said in a statement.

Williams, when running for district attorney, campaigned on not trying juveniles as adults. He defended the move on Thursday, saying the crime was so egregious juvenile court was not equipped to handle it.

“It was wrong of them to pray on and kill one of our elders. It was wrong to punch and kick a 73-year-old woman. It was wrong to steal her car, it was wrong to pull off with her attached to it. It was wrong to drag her down that street screaming, it was wrong to ignore her cries for mercy, which are embedded in the neighbors’ minds and hearts and ears who were out there at that crime scene,” Williams said.

“There are lines you don’t cross in a civilized society,” he added.

New Orleans police chief Shaun Ferguson asked Williams’ office to try the teens as adults after the horrible details were released.

“I mean, look at the nature of the crime. Brazenness. Broad daylight. No regard for this woman hanging outside the car,” Ferguson said.

Williams issued a statement shortly after Frickey’s death decrying the crime, but initially stopped short of promising the juveniles would be prosecuted as adults.

“What occurred ... was heinous and unthinkable,” Williams said. “I can’t help but think of my own mother and other elders in our community. While we will allow the NOPD to complete a thorough investigation, any and all persons that the evidence shows participated in the murder of this elder will be prosecuted to the absolute fullest extent of the law.”

“I’m not an advocate for incarceration, but sometimes people need to be locked up,” Ferguson said. “When you commit a crime like this, absolutely you need to be locked up.”

After surveillance images of the suspects were disseminated, Ferguson said the mother of one of the 15-year-old girls brought her in to surrender to police. Hours later, the parents of the 17-year-old boy also notified police of where he could be found. Police served a search warrant at another residence and found the male suspect with one of the girls also being sought. After news reports of the first three arrests circulated, the final 15-year-old girl surrendered to police.

The family of Frickey struggled to cope with the gruesome way in which their loved one was murdered.

I never ever would want to wish that on another human being,” said Kathy Richard, Linda’s sister-in-law. “Just open the door. He kicked...try to kick her out but it didn’t work. How could you kick her? It’s just beyond comprehension. It’s evil. And you don’t just go from being in school to just taking a walk, to killing somebody. It was murder. Downright murder.”

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Honore had a previous violent crime allegation charged in adult Criminal District Court that was dropped last year by Williams’ office, court records show. He and two other co-defendants were charged as adults for another alleged carjacking when he was 15.

The court record shows Honore was ordered to home confinement and later incarcerated at the Orleans Juvenile Justice Center while awaiting prosecution. He was ordered freed from confinement after Williams’ office told the court it was dropping the case.

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