NEW ORLEANS — A teenager is behind bars for allegedly sexually assaulting and beating a homeless man to death. Police records show the victim was known to live on the streets.
The details of this case are absolutely horrifying. According to the arrest affidavit, 19-year-old Joel Warren was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
According to the affidavit, a man was found dead on South Galvez Street. NOPD released a video of Joel Warren taken the night of the alleged attack.
The affidavit says, "Surveillance footage was obtained of the homicide, and the perpetrator sexually and physically assaulted the decedent for three hours before the decedent succumbed to his injuries."
Police records said Warren saw the surveillance of him on social media and turned himself in to police, telling them it was him in the video. Officials originally miss identified the victim, but now believe he is Marty Williams.
Martha Kegel with Unity of Greater New Orleans said the agency's outreach workers first met Williams in 2012 but that he hasn't been seen by staff in a year.
Kegel said, "He was a very vulnerable individual, he was chronically homeless, he'd been homeless for over 10 years off and on, he was 66 years old and was mentally disabled."
She went on to say, "Ninety-one percent of people who sleep on the street are disabled physically or mentally and they're just very vulnerable."
Major Ed Binnix with the Salvation Army of Greater New Orleans Area told WWL Louisiana those experiencing homelessness are susceptible to assault.
He said, "You can ask everybody who comes into our shelter in the evenings if they've ever been a victim of a crime and 100 percent of them have been a victim of a crime."
According to Unity, Marty Williams was initially approached by outreach staff when he was living in an abandoned building.