Linda Frickey, 73, was sitting in her Nissan Kicks SUV in New Orleans on March 21, 2022. She wasn’t bothering anyone, but a group of teens decided they wanted her vehicle. Now she’s dead, and they are all in prison.
Kimya Holmes, a criminal district judge in New Orleans, handed down a life sentence to 18-year-old John Honore on January 12. Following a one-day trial in November, the youngster was convicted guilty of murder and was sentenced to death. He killed Frickey, his lawyer told the jurors, but he blamed the crime on a troubled youth.
Indictments were filed against Honore and three girls on allegations of second-degree murder. Last November, the remaining defendants—Mar’Qel Curtis, Lenyra Theophile, and Briniyah Baker—were granted permission to plead guilty to attempted manslaughter. Each of them received a 20-year prison sentence.
Prosecutors say the youths planned to take Frickey’s vehicle. Honore sprayed the old woman with pepper spray as they approached, and then he punched her. She stumbled to the ground, and the convicted killer trampled her. Honore got into the SUV and began driving while the victim was still entangled in the seatbelt; as a result, she was dragged for around 200 yards over the pavement.
According to reports, Frickey pleaded with Honore to release her. He made an effort to move her aside while the automobile was moving. He careened over a curb, and the victim’s arm was severed from her body by a cable from a utility pole. According to witness Leanne Mascar’s testimony, she was present when it happened and hurried over to Frickey. According to her, the victim was lying face up, fully conscious, and had her clothing torn from her. Twenty minutes after the incident, Frickey had already passed away when rescue personnel arrived at the location.
The woman damaged her clavicle, vertebrae, and ribs in addition to her arm, according to forensic pathologist Erin O’Sullivan. Her aorta was ripped and she had a concussion. His girlfriend Theophile was one of the girls, according to Honore’s mother, who named him as one of the carjackers. The reason she handed him in, she told the court, was that she wanted to do what was right.
Honore “deserves to go where he is going,” Frickey’s sister Jinnylynn Griffin told reporters.