NEW ORLEANS — The trial of suspects in the killing of Linda Frickey, the woman who was dragged to her death in a carjacking attempt, should be held this year, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
Frickey was 73 years old and was getting into her vehicle in Mid-City last year when four teens approached, and at least one of them badly beat her and forced her out of the car. Her arm got stuck in a seat belt and was severed as the car sped off with the teens inside. She died and the crime horrified the community.
District Attorney Jason Williams decided to try the teens as adults and it was tentatively set to begin this year but a court judge ruled that the trial be pushed back nearly a year, until March 2024, after the defense won a motion for additional time to respond to the state’s DNA and fingerprint evidence.
The Supreme Court, in its ruling, said that “the interests of the victim’s family in closure and of the defendants in a speedy trial must be weighed and balanced.”
The court ruled that those considerations weren’t met in the judge’s ruling and it vacated that ruling and the scheduled trial date of March 18, 2024.
“We remand to the trial court with instructions to select a trial date in the year 2023.”
Four teenagers, John Honore, Briniyah Baker, Lenyra Theophile and Mar’Qel Curtis were expected to tried for second-degree murder.
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