Theodore Pierce, 37, was gunned down on 4th Street. Quentin McClure, 23, and Chastity Griffin, 22, were arrested in that killing.
According to investigators, the man who pointed the finger at them was gunned down himself in August.
“The homicide occurred right before motions were heard in the other case,” said Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand at a press conference announcing the arrest Tuesday.
On Aug. 17, Charles Smith was killed outside his Bridge City home. It stands right next to where Pierce was shot to death in January.
Deputies arrested 18-year-old Jeffery Nelson for Smith’s murder. He’s the brother of Quentin McClure, the man Smith identified in the original murder.
“It’s something we take very, very seriously. It’s something that we will dedicate all the assets and resources of this organization in order to ensure that these little thugs are not gonna get away with it, and in fact, they’re gonna go to jail for a long, long time,” Normand said.
The sheriff said witnesses getting threatened or harmed is rare in Jefferson Parish, and that he hopes to keep it that way. According to Normand, they actively offer witness assistance and relocation funds to threatened witnesses, but in the case of Charles Smith, he refused any help.
Just last week, the sheriff’s office arrested four men for trying to intimidate a witness in Marrero. They were arrested for firing a gun at a house where eight people were staying, including a witness and three young kids.
“You have some folks that continue to believe they can continue to live their life outside of the law — that they continue to be a leech on our society and that the rules don’t apply to them,” Normand said.
As for the murder case that Charles Smith died over all the defendants are being tried for murder this week.
