If only some parts of Republican Gov. Jeff Landry’s and
his legislative allies’ crime package had been in place prior to this year, likely
at least one more person would be alive today, along potentially with
reductions in many other crimes committed.
At the end of June, a woman who worked as tour guide was found shot dead early in the morning in the Vieux Carré. The next day, New Orleans police arrested Joshua Bonifacio-Avila, 19, Jerben Albarec, 17, and Kevin Nuñez, 15 for the robbery/murder with Nuñez as the alleged triggerboy.
That unhappy circumstance reflects poorly on Democrat Orleans Parish Juvenile Court Judge Candice Bates-Anderson’s decision-making, as Nuñez – despite his not being old enough to operate legally a vehicle – already had a record of seven counts of aggravated assault, illegal possession of a handgun, and domestic battery at his latest appearance earlier this spring. Bates-Anderson nevertheless sentenced him to home arrest and monitoring. Yet in another system failure, for some reason his ankle monitor was deactivated in May, allowing him to roam the streets that led to his alleged role in the robbery that escalated to murder.