GRETNA, La. — A Harvey man was convicted of first-degree murder in the killing of a man who was attempting to sell a dirt bike over a social media platform in March 2021.
Jalen Harvey was found guilty by a Jefferson Parish jury after only about 45 minutes of deliberation Thursday night.
The case made big news as Joseph Vindel's body was found shot to death inside of his own vehicle on Coliseum Street in the Garden District of New Orleans last March.
Jefferson Parish investigators found that Vindel had listed a dirt bike on Facebook Marketplace for $2,700 and traced interactions Vindel had with Harvey.
Vindel, 29, had towed his dirt bike from his Uptown home to Harvey, Louisiana in an attempt to meet Jalen Harvey.
According to trial testimony, Harvey gave Vindel several different meeting locations before settling on one in the 2100 block of Manhattan Blvd. Investigators said that Harvey shot Vindel while he was still inside of his vehicle, hitting him several times. Vindel did have a pistol on him but court testimony said that a round was "never chambered," meaning that he had not prepared to fire it.
The Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office said that Vindel was still alive as Harvey dragged his body from the front to back seats. Harvey then drove Vindel's vehicle and dropped it off at the Coliseum Street location, where it was later discovered.
Evidence showed that his body had been doused with gasoline.
Harvey is scheduled to be sentenced on October 6. He faces mandatory life in prison.
Vindel's killing caused local police and sheriff's offices to encourage people to find well-lit and busy locations to conduct online transactions of physical property. Jefferson Parish even set up transaction zones at some of its sheriff's office locations.