KENNER, La. — A Jefferson Parish jury Wednesday afternoon found Alexsy Mejia guilty of entering an elderly Metairie couple’s home to rob them and then forcing them to drive to a Kenner bank to withdraw money.
Mejia, 18, was convicted yesterday afternoon of two counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of aggravated burglary. He was 16 years old when he broke into the home of a couple, ages 91 and 81, in an attempt to steal money. He forced them at gunpoint to drive to a Kenner bank, where the manager called the police.
Mejia was prosecuted as an adult and faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison with parole eligibility after 25 years.
Prosecutors say on July 9, 2021, Mejia, concealing his identity by wearing a mask, entered the couple’s Elmwood Parkway home armed with a .38-caliber revolver. He knew the couple because he had done yard work for them in the past.
They say he broke into the couple’s home through a rear bathroom window, encountered the 81-year-old woman in their bedroom and threatened to kill her 91-year-old husband if she called out. He initially demanded they give him $100,000, an amount he reduced as the couple told him they had no cash in the home.
Mejia then forced the couple at gunpoint to drive him to their bank branch in the 3500 block of Williams Boulevard.
At the bank, prosecutors say he ordered the woman to enter the bank and to get the cash while the man wait with him in the car. She told him they could not get the cash unless they both signed for it. Mejia agreed to let the couple enter the bank but alleged he had an accomplice who would blow up their house with them in it if they called the police.
While Mejia waited in their car, the couple went inside and alerted the branch manager about what happened, and the manager called 911.
When Kenner police arrived, Mejia fled on foot. Officers gave chase and found Mejia hiding in a garbage can behind a home in the 3600 block of Martinique Avenue.
Mejia is scheduled to be sentenced in the 24th Judicial District Court on November 9.
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