Two West Bank men were found guilty Friday night (Sept. 8) of a slew of charges, including murder and armed robbery, in connection with a late 2015 crime spree that killed one man and left another partially paralyzed and wheelchair-bound for life, according to the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office.
After about two hours of deliberation, a Jefferson Parish jury unanimously convicted 25-year-old Corey Flag of Gretna and 18-year-old Emmett Garrison IV of Marrero of all charges listed in their 10-count bill of indictment.
Both men were convicted of second-degree murder in the Nov. 23, 2015 fatal shooting of Bruce Lutcher Sr., 34. The jury found that the two men killed Lutcher while robbing him outside of his apartment in the 1600 block of Ute Drive in Harvey. According to previous Times-Picayune interviews with family members, Lutcher was gunned down while trying to protect his young son and family from the robbers.
Garrison was also found guilty of attempted second-degree murder for shooting a 25-year-old man, severing his spinal cord and rendering him partially paralyzed, while trying to rob him outside of his apartment in the 1900 block of Faith Place, in Terrytown. The victim was shot when he refused to give money to the robbers, according to Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office incident reports.
The Faith Place shooting occurred Dec. 11, 2015, during the duo's hour-long string of crimes that included one armed robbery and two attempted armed robberies, all in Terrytown and Harvey. When victims refused to hand over money, they were fired upon, according to JPSO reports.
Flag's and Garrison's late 2015 crime spree also led to the following convictions Friday night, according to the DA's Office:
* Conspiracy to commit armed robbery. Flag and Garrison were convicted of conspiring to commit the Dec. 11, 2015 string of robberies.
* Attempted armed robbery. Garrison and Flag tried to rob a 26-year-old man outside of his apartment in the 2900 block of South Monterey Court, in Terrytown. The attempt, which took place about 5:30 p.m. Dec. 11, 2015, was the first of three robbery attempts to occur within a one-hour span, authorities said.
* Illegal discharge of a firearm. Flag fired a 9-mm pistol at the victim of the attempted robbery on South Monterey Court. The victim was not injured, according to the Jefferson Parish DA's Office.
* Attempted armed robbery. About 6:05 p.m. Dec. 11, 2015, Flag and Garrison tried to rob the 25-year-old man--who was then shot by Garrison--outside of his apartment on Faith Place.
* Armed robbery. About 6:30 p.m., Flag and Garrison robbed a 54-year-old man outside of his apartment in the 1500 block of Abbey Road in Harvey.
* Illegal discharge of a firearm. Garrison shot at the victim of the Abbey Road armed robbery after the victim tried to follow the robbers. The victim was not injured but lost more than $400 in cash and his cellphone in the robbery, the DA's Office said.
* Felon in possession of a firearm. The jury found that Flag possessed a gun despite being prohibited from possessing firearms due to a 2011 conviction of possession of cocaine, for which he was sentenced to four years in prison.
* Illegal discharge of a firearm. Garrison and Flag were found guilty of being the gunmen in a Dec. 9, 2015, drive-by shooting in Marrero's Acre Road public-housing development, according to the DA's Office.
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office connected Garrison and Flag to the crimes through witness statements and spent bullet casings gathered from seven separate crime scenes, according to the DA's Office.
Sentencing for Flag and Garrison is scheduled for Thursday before Jefferson Parish Judge John Molaison.
Second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence, a punishment Flag faces. However, because Garrison was 17 when he committed the murder, a hearing will be held to determine whether he will be eligible for parole after serving 25 years of a life sentence. Garrison will be sentenced for the murder following the hearing, which had not been set Friday night.
Assistant DAs Doug Freese and Rachel Africk prosecuted the case.
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