BATON ROUGE, La. — Antoinette Frank, a disgraced former New Orleans police officer who was convicted in a killing that left two members of a family that owned a restaurant in New Orleans and a fellow police officer dead, was denied clemency by the the state pardon board Friday.
Frank’s clemency appeal was turned down on a 2-2 vote.
Twenty-eight years ago, Frank and her accomplice, Rogers LaCaze, were convicted in the slayings of Cuong and Ha Vu and NOPD Officer Ronald Williams at the Kim Anh Noodle House.
It was a crime that stunned the city of New Orleans and shook the police department.
LaCaze is currently serving a life sentence.
Governor John Bel Edwards came out against the death penalty this year and 56 of the 57 people on death row applied for clemency, but only five of them, including Frank, were granted hearings.
Family members of Ronald Williams opposed the clemency with emotional appeals. His son, who was just a baby when his father was killed, said it was “absurd” to consider her request.
Meanwhile, supporters talked about the trauma Frank had experienced as a child.
Board member Alvin Roche Jr., voted to deny clemency based on disciplinary reports in Frank’s file while in prison and the fact that changing the sentence could open up a path to eventually have her released on parole.
The board also denied clemency for four other death-row inmates, including Clifford Deruise of New Orleans and Emmett Taylor of Marrero, La.
