From The Marshall Project.
It had been a long day of mowing brush in the Louisiana heat, so Jeffrey Fornea and his 69-year-old father rested on their back porch in Angie, a small town about 90 miles north of New Orleans. They were sipping Cokes, feet propped up, when they heard a gunshot.
A group of young men in bandanas approached, Jeffrey testified later in court. One hit his father in the head with a pipe. Another took Jeffrey’s wallet. They forced father and son inside and made them open the family safe. The men took about $700, some jewelry, and a red Toucan Sam lunchbox.
Five men were arrested for the robbery in September 2011. Four received prison sentences of 15 to 20 years.
But one, 23-year-old Demenica Westbrook, faced a different fate. In addition to robbery, prosecutors argued that Westbrook had committed aggravated kidnapping by helping coerce the Forneas into the house. In 2013, a jury found Westbrook guilty, and he received the mandatory sentence: life without parole. Continue reading >>>
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