A Baton Rouge man accused of fatally shooting a 69-year-old motherAs he sat in his truck, he is now a free man after a jury found him not guilty of second-degree murder.

After a four-day trial in 19th District Court, jurors deliberated for about three hours Friday before finding Tony Lanus not guilty.

Eishmel Spears Jr. was killed as he sat in his pickup truck parked along the 9900 block of Merganzer Avenue on the morning of June 7, 2023. Prosecutors said Lanus, 22, shot the man at random because he “had wanted to try his weapon. and kill somebody,” according to Baton Rouge police reports.

But Lanus’ attorney, public defender Bruce Unangst, questioned the credibility of a key state’s witness in the trial.

“You have to have credible witnesses when you come to court,” Unangst said Monday. “They can charge people and do everything, but if you don’t have credible witnesses when you come to court, you won’t get a conviction.”

Investigate

According to Lanus’ arrest report, police found Spears shot to death in the driver’s seat of the Chevy Silverado shortly after 2:30 a.m.

ShotSpotter detectors heard four shots in rapid succession, as if fired from a gun modified with an illegal Glock “switch”. Police recovered .40 caliber shell casings in Spears’ truck.

Delmonte “Fatman” Aites told detectives he was riding in his car with Lanus, his younger cousin, when Lanus told him he wanted to test his gun, rolled down his window and fired several shots into the driver’s door of the victim’s parked van.

Aites identified Lanus in a series of photographs and told detectives that he shot Spears with a .40-caliber Glock equipped with a switching mechanism that turns it into a fully automatic weapon. Police recovered the gun used to kill Spears near a refrigerator at Lanus’ residence, according to prosecutors.

Aites testified at trial Thursday and described the shooting in detail, telling jurors that the lights of Spears’ pickup truck were illuminating a dark road. He said both he and Lanus knew someone was in the truck because the light was on in the cab.

Aites said he was driving with his cousin in the passenger seat when Lanus said, “I feel like killing somebody,” prosecutors said.

Aites said he shrugged off the comment, telling Lanus “Man, don’t trip” as he continued to drive. But he said Lanus rolled down his window as they drove by and fired his gun at Spears’ truck.

During closing arguments in the trial Friday afternoon, Assistant District Attorney Fredrick Scott said Lanus showed a specific intent to kill — a legal requirement for second-degree murder — when he rolled down his window and aimed at his truck Spears knowing he was a busybody. vehicle.

“The defendant tested his weapon to kill,” Scott told jurors. “The person could have been my father, it could have been your grandfather or your uncle. It could have been anyone. Someone! But that someone was Eishmel Spears.”

Prosecutors also presented text messages between Aites and Lanus following the shooting, where they said Aites asked his cousin if he had any remorse. They said Lanus responded with a vulgar text dismissing Spears’ death.

When Aites asked him if he prayed for forgiveness, Lanus responded with a smiley emoticon and indicated he wanted to “mimic the gun” — get rid of the murder weapon — prosecutors said.

Rejection of the defense

London Miller, a Louisiana State Police forensic DNA analyst specializing in ballistics, tested the murder weapon. She testified that there was a “very strong” match to Lanus’ DNA on the gun.

But Unangst, Lanus’ attorney, said he got her to admit under cross-examination that the match didn’t necessarily prove the defendant ever shot or held the gun.

Calling Aites a liar who was trying to manipulate the jury, Unangst said his story was not corroborated by phone records, video evidence or any other witnesses. He suggested Aites fabricated the text messages, which were screenshots of his and Lanus’ exchanges, and said Lanus never sent the messages.

Unangst also said there was no scientific evidence to support Aites, noting that Lanus’ DNA was nowhere to be found in his car, despite his claim that the two men had been riding together in the vehicle all day.

“There is only one person that the state has proven fired this murder weapon in Delmonte Aites’ car,” Unangst told jurors Friday. “And there is only one person that the state has proven was there when Eishmel was killed. Ladies and gentlemen, this was Delmonte Aites.”

Assistant District Attorney Cheryl Carter insisted Aites was telling the truth and told jurors he was visibly shaken on the stand at having to testify against his family member.

“I know you saw how heartbreaking it was to have to go to the police and tell them his cousin killed someone. He was very torn, but he did the right thing,” she said, later adding: “The defense would have you believe that Fatman is selling you something. What the Fatman is selling you is the truth.”

Lanus was released over the weekend after spending more than 16 months in jail awaiting trial, according to his lawyer. When reflecting on the trial Monday, Unangst again emphasized Lanus’ innocence and pointed out that the prosecution’s case collapsed because Aites’ story was shaky.

“I worry all the time that you can convict an innocent person,” he said. “An indictment and an indictment can get you arrested, get you in front of a jury. But the jury is our last protection against convicting innocent people. So I’m very proud and grateful to this jury and I’m very happy for Tony and his family.”