KENNER, La. — A Jefferson Parish judge sentenced a Kenner man to life in prison after he was convicted of kidnapping an elderly couple from their Metairie home in 2021.
Alexsy Mejia, who was 16 years old at the time of the crime, was charged and prosecuted as an adult. His life sentences came with the possibility to be eligible for parole after 25 years. Judge Frank Brindisi of the 24th Judicial District Court also sentenced Mejia to 30 years in prison after being convicted of aggravated burglary. The sentence for aggravated burglary was ordered to be served concurrently.
Prosecutors say on July 9, 2021, Mejia donned a mask and a .38-caliber revolver and broke into an elderly couple's home through a bathroom window. Inside, he demanded the couple, a 91-year-old man and an 81-year-old woman, to give him $100,000 so he could purchase a car.
After the couple said they had no cash at home, prosecutors say Mejia forced them at gunpoint to drive to their bank on Williams Boulevard in Kenner. During the drive, he held the revolver to the elderly man's head.
Prosecutors say at the bank, Mejia told the couple to go inside and get the money. If they refused, he said he had an accomplice who would blow up their home if they called police. Despite threats from Mejia, authorities say the wife asked an employee to call police.
When Kenner police officers got to the bank, Mejia ran. He was found hiding in a garbage can a street over on Martinique Avenue. Authorities say he confessed saying he targeted the couple because of their age and said he wanted money to buy a car. Authorities say he knew the couple because he did yard work for them in the past.
Jurors deliberated for 40 minutes on Oct. 26, 2022, before unanimously convicting Mejia as charged of two counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of aggravated burglary.
Prosecutors say the two victims submitted a victim impact statement saying that they had forgiven him an “hope that he can move on in a positive way” with his life.
Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul D. Connick, Jr. 's office said that life in prison is a mandatory punishment for aggravated kidnapping. But because Mejia was a teenager at the time of the crimes, he will be eligible for parole in 25 years.
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