NEW ORLEANS — One of the teenagers accused of carjacking and killing a woman in Mid-City Monday had been arrested for carjacking before, but his charges were dropped.
Sources tell Eyewitness News that the 17-year-old male suspect is John Honore. He had a prior arrest for aggravated burglary related to a carjacking when he was 15-years-old, according to court records.
Honore's case was transferred to adult court, but later dismissed under Jason Williams in 2021, record show.
According to Williams' office, the victim in that case was a family member and requested that the DA's Office not proceed with the charge.
Honore is one of four juvenile suspects arrested in the deadly carjacking. New Orleans police said family members who recognized them from a surveillance photo alerted detectives and turned them in.
"It was an incredibly difficult decision for them," NOPD Chief Shaun Ferguson said. "Within an hour of the video being released, we had parents at the police station."
All four suspects will face second-degree murder charges for their roles.
"They need to be in jail," he said. "When you commit a crime like this, you need to be locked up."
Ferguson said that he won't go into specifics, but that some of the suspects have been arrested previously.
District Attorney Jason Williams also said the suspects need to be treated in accordance with the seriousness of the crime.
"What occurred to 73-year-old Linda Frickey was heinous and unthinkable. I can’t help, but think of my own mother and other elders in our community... any and all persons that the evidence shows participated in the murder of this elder will be prosecuted to the absolute fullest extent of the law," Williams said.
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