NEW ORLEANS — After five long years, Gregory Heisser and Darnisha Desilva's family are one step closer to finally having their day in court.
"I’m very confident we’re going to get our justice this week," Lurline LaBeaud Duncan, Heisser's mother, said Monday.
Monday, the man accused of killing Heisser and Desilva, Kenneth Augustine, was in court again. Augustine is accused of killing the couple in a little woods home back on October 9, 2018, after an alleged argument. When Heisser was killed he was holding one of the couple's children, another child was nearby.
The case has been delayed several times now, including last Monday, May 6, when Augustine's lawyers were granted a motion after they argued they didn't have enough time to prepare for the case. Augustine fired his last attorney. While his newest lawyers asked for several weeks, Judge Ben Willard, who's overseeing the case, gave them until May 13. Monday, a jury was supposed to be selected, but when the time came, there were not enough jurors to be seated.
Parts of the case still moved forward, though. Augustine's mother and sister, Barbara and Michelle Augustine, were also charged in connection to the incident.
On Monday, they both agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge—a misdemeanor of obstruction of justice. District Attorney Jason Williams was in the courtroom and said the plea deal was in exchange for their testimony against Augustine.
A lawyer representing Michelle said the two women were not heavily involved in the alleged fatal shooting. He said the women had only driven Augustine to the home where the shooting happened so he could get some clothes.
"I’ll speak for Michelle, she was ready to put this behind her and be done with this, this has been going on for years now, for a day that she just went on a ride with her brother," Michael Kennedy, Michelle's lawyer said.
LaBeaud Duncan said she's happy with the plea deal and finally feels the case is moving forward.
"I’m completely in agreement with it. I just hope they can get some closure as well I understand some of what they’re doing through and to be honest they’ve been drug through this whole ordeal just as much as I have," LaBeaud Duncan said.
Augustine's lawyers continue to argue that the case should be delayed, saying moving forward in this time frame does not lead to a fair trial. Judge Willard is adamant about starting the trial. Jury selection is expected to begin Tuesday.
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