NEW ORLEANS — Following powerful testimony from two of their nine victims, two juvenile carjackers who terrorized the city during a 48-hour crime spree last fall were sentenced to juvenile life Tuesday. Juvenile life means a defendant must remain locked up until reaching age 21.
However, under the terms imposed by Orleans Parish Juvenile Court Judge Tammy Stewart, the young repeat offenders, 14 and 16, will have an opportunity for an earlier release if they obtain a GED, learn a trade and pass a psychological evaluation.
“I'm happy that a stern punishment is being enforced, that serious consequences are being handed down, to really send a message,” said Elizabeth Schindler, who was punched in the face and dragged out of her car during the youths’ first attack on Sept. 19.
“Otherwise,” she said, “it's just very difficult for them to understand the severity of the choices that they've made and the things that they've done, to constantly be going in and out of juvenile detention like that.”
Schindler testified that her attack turned into a long-running “nightmare” far beyond the split lip and bruises she suffered in the attack. Her stolen car was found when the youths were arrested two days later, but she said she had to pay for extensive damage to the vehicle.
More significantly, Schindler testified that her feeling of safety has been shaken.
“Your honor, it has haunted me,” she said. “It kept me awake, kept me from focusing on my work. It still keeps me from being able to function like a confident and competent adult.”
The second victim, who was dragged out of her car in a school parking lot while picking up her child, told the judge her family is leaving the city because of the trauma of her crime.
“I don’t like the city anymore,” she said tearfully. “I don’t want to be here anymore.”
Both victims directly addressed the defendants, who sat silently and expressionless for most of the hearing, sometimes with their heads down.
“You still have the potential to live awesome lives,” Schindler told the teenagers. “Do not throw your lives away.”
The second victim said, simply and softly, “I hope you change.”
In a hearing full of emotion, one especially poignant moment came when the grandmother of the 14-year-old testified. She started with an apology to the victims, noting that her grandson has always been a follower, not a leader.
She then turned to her grandson and ordered him to apologize. The 14-year-old stood up and sheepishly mumbled in the direction of the victims, “I’m sorry for what I did.”
With rampant juvenile crime becoming one of the city’s most stubborn quality-of-life problems, Judge Stewart said cases of young offenders are “not black and white, not clear cut.”
Stewart said she is aware of the toll suffered by victims, but she also has to take into account the trauma many juvenile offenders experience that leads them down a path of delinquency.
She said detention must be an opportunity for rehabilitation, especially because all teenagers she sentences will eventually return to society.
“These are kids that will be coming back to the community,” Stewart said. “Our job is to make sure that they do come back, they never do anything like this again”
The crime spree hit many corners of the city.
In addition to the first two female victims, who were carjacked in the Marigny and Bywater, two men had their truck stolen at Thalia and Dorgenois streets.
That stolen Chevy Silverado was spotted in connection with several other crimes, including a violent beating of a woman unloading garden supplies from her car on an Uptown street. The final carjacking took place the next day on Decatur Street, where a victim was parked next to the Farmer’s Market.
Detectives from four different police districts described using city crime cameras and license plate readers to zero in on the suspects as the crimes unfolded throughout the city. Police caught up to the suspects on Sept. 21 as they were standing next to one of the stolen cars on North Tonti Street.
A third defendant has been ruled incompetent to stand trial and remains in detention in a mental health facility.