GUILTY LA - Wendy Byrne, 39, shot to death, New Orleans, 17 Jan 2009

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl012009tpkilling.12d5e1be.html

"According to Riley, the mothers of the two suspects called police to say their children may have been involved after seeing their pictures in the media.
Sketches of two of the suspects were widely-publicized and compiled from witnesses to Byrne’s killing and another attempted robbery just minutes before where the suspects matched the description from the murder.

“The mother saw the composite of the kid,” said Riley. “She called our homicide division stating that she believed that the composite we showed with the dreadlocks was her son.”

Riley said the suspect pictured with dreadlocks confessed to being the shooter. A third 15-year-old is being sought."



http://www.examiner.com/x-2552-New-...es-sketches-of-French-Quarter-murder-suspects

(original article, of which the mother of one saw her son's sketch)

Wow. Someone doing the right thing with their child. If only all parents would do the same.

Could you imagine the horror, watching the local evening news about a murder, thinking 'What a shame..' then seeing the sketch and going 'OMG!! That is MY son!!!' Ugh... Prayers to this mother for comfort and healing.

MelInTN said:

Could you imagine the horror, watching the local evening news about a murder, thinking 'What a shame..' then seeing the sketch and going 'OMG!! That is MY son!!!' Ugh... Prayers to this mother for comfort and healing.

Click to expand...

That is the very first thing that came to my mind as well. I hope she has a strong support system.

azmama said:

That is the very first thing that came to my mind as well. I hope she has a strong support system.

Click to expand...

I hope she's got a good support system too. It's a hard thing to do, turn her son in, yet she did the right thing. He's 15, and has to learn that thugging is not the right way of life, only leads to violence. It's heartbreaking for his mother, and i hope he thinks long and hard about that. It's too bad he wasn't thinking about it before getting involved in that murder.

From June 2014:

http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/9492329-171/la-supreme-court-returns-teen

One of three youths charged in the murder of Wendy Byrne, a popular bartender gunned down in the French Quarter in 2009, has been ordered to return to a state juvenile detention center after a sharply divided Louisiana Supreme Court ruled he failed to fulfill his end of a plea deal.

The 4-3 decision, which drew pointed dissents from two justices, sent 19-year-old Ernest Cloud back to the Bridge City Center for Youth to complete a vocational program that defense attorneys contend was not available during his 18-month stay at the facility...

Also charged in the killing were Drey Lewis, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years behind bars, and Reggie Douglas, the alleged gunman, who was found incompetent to stand trial and was admitted to a state mental health facility.

Click to expand...