NEW ORLEANS — A man accused of defrauding at least seven different property owners is now facing charges for allegedly shooting a man in Central City.
Jonathan Burden was arrested on Sunday for allegedly shooting a man last Thursday evening, around 7:30.
The shooting happened at the intersection of Freret Street and Louisiana Avenue. The victim told police Burden pulled up alongside him, fired 10 shots into his car, and hit him once, in the right shoulder.
In her arrest affidavit, NOPD Detective Raychel Willey said the unnamed victim is good friends with Burden's ex-girlfriend. The victim identified Burden, who uses the handle @TheRealBirdman12th on Instagram, as "Bird." When detectives visited him in the hospital and showed him a photo of Burden, the victim immediately said, "That's his stupid ass!"
In the affidavit, Detective Raychel Willey called the shooting an "Aggravated Battery by Shooting," but only requested that Burden be booked for 2nd Degree Battery.
That's a lesser charge than Aggravated Battery and it usually gives a defendant a lower bond.
Court records obtained by The Times-Picayune showed Burden's bond was set in magistrate court based on his previous six felony convictions and the charges he's now facing, 2nd degree battery and illegal use of a firearm. He was released on $50,000 total bond.
Dillard University criminologist Ashraf Esmail said a shooting, especially one with multiple shots fired into a car, would normally be a decision between aggravated battery and attempted murder, not 2nd degree battery.
"The idea that he's being charged with second-degree battery, given he fired ten times with a deadly weapon is very, very surprising, almost shocking," Esmail said.
Burden doesn't have to appear in criminal court until April 4. That clearly concerns the alleged victim. Reached by phone Thursday morning, he told WWL Louisiana he didn't want to make a statement because he's afraid Burden will come after him again.
"If I was in his position, I'd be afraid too," Esmail said, "when you're being shot at ten times, and again, very much targeted. And the idea that he survived is thankful."
WWL asked the NOPD why Detective Willey booked Burden on 2nd degree battery, and not aggravated battery or attempted murder. Spokesman Barry Fletcher tried to direct this reporter to the district attorney. After the reporter noted the DA decides on formal charges later in the process, Fletcher said Burden was charged with 2nd Degree Battery "because that was the exact charge the investigating detective determined was appropriate."
Property owners who allege Burden stole their houses out from under them have been calling for Burden's arrest for months.
"They need to do something with him. They need to get him, and just hold onto him," said Derrick Breston, whose property in the Bywater was taken from him and his dead mother and soon transferred to Burden, who immediately sold it for $100,000.Jonahan
A national board-certified forensic document examiner, Adele Thonn, told WWL it was "probable" that Burden wrote the fake deed that was used to take Breston's house, based on comparisons of the handwritten portions of the document with Burden's other known writing.
Burden has been brazen on social media about "taking down" people's properties. He bragged on a podcast that he is saving owners from foreclosure. But seven local property owners have sued him and alleged he tricked them or tried to trick them into handing over their houses to him for little or no help.
In one case, the former owner of a million-dollar Uptown mansion alleged Burden got her to sign a backup offer, then used it to hold up the sale of her house until she paid him $85,000.
Later, a federal bankruptcy judge ruled Burden took another house in Central City from a dead woman's estate.
Burden is due in federal bankruptcy court next week to argue against a $15,000 payment he recently had to make to cover costs and return rents he collected after the judge ruled he stole them from the bankruptcy estate.
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