GUILTY LA - David, 56, & Nicholas Pence, 25, murdered in their Metairie home, 22 April 2015

[Trident]

This still bothers me. The suspects didn't match the description of the carjackers who initially stole the car. I am concerned a third person or friend stole it and is somehow involved (still out there).

Wouldn't be surprised these two committed other crimes and are getting caught for first time.

I'm just glad there are two less animals roaming the streets; too bad an innocent father and son had to be murdered in cold blood.

 

[Dushi]

What a senseless horrible crime
I , too, was completely wrong about it not being random

 

[SurfieTX]

Daily Mail story.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...al-home-teen-burglars-broke-dinner-party.html

 

[Tawny]

IMO, shotgun blasts do not sound like rapid fire gunshots (like from a pistol or rifle). They are two VERY distinct sounds. Gunshots tend to sound like loud pops, shotguns blasts are booms.

If neighbors/friends didn't hear gunshots, it's because they didn't recognize the boom as coming from a firearm. A shotgun blast inside a home a couple of houses away will not sound like gunshots. It's actually more easily dismissed. It may have sounded like a heavy object falling on a solid surface.

 

[SilverGirl]

Yes I probably should have mentioned I am not familiar with gunshot sounds or types of guns. When I posted earlier it was a theory or possibility that crossed my mind on why neighbors and friends didn't hear anything. The gunshots i heard (which my friend didn't hear) was in fact a homicide a block away. I'd have likely mistaken it for fireworks if I had been in a safer neighborhood.
Yes... Easy to dismiss or shrug it off as something else.

So glad the officers have been able to move so quickly on this case!

 

[bessie]

Allen was in Orleans Parish court today to face carjacking charges related to the incident on Wednesday, April 22, when he stole the Toyota Highlander from a woman at gunpoint, in the St. Rock neighborhood of New Orleans. (Clears up the question of whether Allen or someone else had stolen the Highlander DA and HD were in the night of the murders.) DA lived with his mother in the same neighborhood. He also faces charges of second degree attempted murder of a U.S. Marshall in Orleans Parish.

[...]
Allen made his second appearance in court Monday (April 27), when Magistrate Judge Harry Cantrell set a bond of $50,000 for one count of felony carjacking. Allen received a $20,000 bond Friday on charges of attempted second-degree murder, illegal possession of stolen things and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

[...]
Around 4:40 p.m. Wednesday (April 22), about seven hours before the double murder, a 27-year-old Metairie woman parked her car outside a home at Painters and North Johnson streets and went inside to pick up her son. Police said she left her driver's side door unlocked and returned to her 2011 Toyota Highlander about 20 minutes later to find the car door ajar and an unknown male — later identified as Allen — in the driver's seat.
Allen produced a black handgun, police said, and grabbed the woman's arm while snatching her car keys out of her hand. He then told the woman to "shut my door, b----," court records show.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2015/04/metairie_double_murder_suspect.html

This guy was a true predator, always watching, always keeping his eyes open for opportunity. To protect ourselves, it's so important that we be aware, and fully understand, that guys like this do exist, and they are everywhere. Know how they think, and take measures to stay one step ahead of them.

 

[Queen Bee]

omg....what a piece of work!

like i said before.....it's just a shame he's 17 in that the death penalty is off the table :furious:

a crying shame

imo

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.theneworleansadvocate.co...tent-to-stand-trial-in-metairie-double-murder

Haraquon Degruy, who was found in October to be unfit at that time to stand trial for her alleged role in the brutal shotgun killing of a man and his son in their Metairie home, has now been declared mentally competent...

Steib’s ruling on Wednesday followed a 50-minute hearing in which court-appointed psychologist Rafael Salcedo testified the earlier recommendation that Degruy be declared unfit in October was made out of an abundance of caution...

Steib will hear more motions June 16, when prosecutors are expected to argue that prior criminal acts should be admissible at the trial.

 

[0101ABA]

October 2016
Dexter Allen found guilty of Metairie double murder; jury's decision unanimous

After less than two hours of deliberation, a Jefferson Parish jury agreed. Allen, 18, was convicted unanimously of the April 2015 double murder of a father and son that shocked a close-knit neighborhood.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Haraquon Degruy will head to trial June 1 in Metairie double murder

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2017/05/harquon_degruy_metairie_double.html

Despite penning a letter to the court taking responsibility for her role in the shotgun slayings of David and Nicholas Pence, Haraquon Degruy told the court Thursday morning that she would like to proceed to trial.

Degruy, 20, of New Orleans, was scheduled to stand trial on two counts of being a principal to second-degree murder and 19 counts of simple burglary.

Referencing the April 17th letter, addressed to the Jefferson Parish clerk of court, Judge Raymond Steib Jr. of the 24th Judicial District Court asked, "She wishes to withdraw her request to enter a plea and wishes to take this matter to trial?"

Degruy, shackled in the courtroom jury box, nodded, "Yes sir."

2 years after Metairie double murder, killer sentence to life without parole - April 21st

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2017/04/dexter_allen_sentence_pence_do.html

Dexter Allen, the teenager convicted of creeping into a Metairie home with a shotgun and killing father David Pence and his son, Nicholas Pence, in their den, was sentenced Friday (April 21) to life in prison. The sentencing came a day before the second anniversary of the April 22, 2015, murders.

In a rare display of emotion from the bench, 24th Judicial District Court Judge Raymond Steib Jr. choked back tears of sympathy for the victims' family as he ordered Allen, 19, imprisoned for life without the possibility of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

"David Pence was shot and killed while he slept, not once but three times," Steib told Allen. "I still remember the demonstration of the officer showing what physical effort it took to pump that shotgun three times. Then, with the house filled with smoke and burning gunpowder, you pumped two more shots into Nicholas Pence."

Elizabeth Brandley Pence found her husband dead moments after the shooting and held her son as he took in his last breaths. On Friday, she was still shaking with relief as she stood with family, friends and neighbors on the steps of the Gretna courthouse following the sentencing.

"This was a complete tragedy for our family but we feel justice has been served," Elizabeth Pence said.

The killings, Steib said, were not an act of immaturity. The judge recalled the testimony of Allen's mother at Thursday's hearing. She told the court her son was smart and a good student. But Serena Jones Allen never indicated that he had any developmental disability, Steib said.

The judge said he's watched Allen since the case began to make its way through court and remarked that the teenager never showed any emotion.

"There's been no remorse, not request to say I'm sorry, to ask forgiveness from the family," Steib said.

"Words cannot express the sorrow we feel for your loss. I hope this brings some closure to you and heals the wounds that you have suffered," he said.

Elizabeth and Tara Pence said they were moved by the judge's emotional words and grateful that he, too, noticed what they alluded to as Allen's seeming indifference.

"I'm thankful to Judge Steib for watching what Dexter Allen had done through the entire trial," Tara Pence said.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Haraquon Degruy pleads guilty to manslaughter, gets 40 years for role in Metairie double murder

http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/courts/article_eb10d3e8-5da1-11e7-802c-eb9a7e656759.html

Haraquon Degruy was sentenced to 40 years in prison Friday after admitting to her role in the killing of David and Nicholas Pence, who were shotgunned to death in their Metairie home two years ago while she waited outside in the getaway car.

Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick's office was ready to go forward with a murder trial in 24th Judicial District Court in Gretna, but the plea agreement came at the urging of Pence family members, who said the prospect of going through another trial was more than they could bear.