1 week Ago
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save A Baton Rouge man accused of fatally shooting a 69-year-old ma n as he sat in his pickup truck is now a free man after a jury found him not guilty of second-degree murder. After a four-day trial inside the 19th Judicial District Courthouse, jurors deliberated for about three hours Friday before declaring Tony Lanus not guilty. Eishmel Spears Jr.
was killed as he sat in his pickup truck parked along the 9900 block of Merganzer Avenue early the morning of June 7, 2023. Prosecutors said Lanus, 22, shot the man at random because he “wanted to try out his gun and kill someone,” according to Baton Rouge police reports. But Lanus’ attorney, public defender Bruce Unangst, cast doubt on the credibility of a key state's witness in the trial.
“You’ve got 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’re not going to get a conviction.” The investigation According to Lanus’ arrest report, police found Spears shot dead in the driver’s seat of his Chevy Silverado shortly after 2:30 a.
m. ShotSpotter detectors heard four gunshots in rapid succession as if fired from a gun modified with an illegal Glock “switch.” Police recovered .
40-caliber shell casings in Spears’ pickup. 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 side door of the victim’s parked truck. Aites identified Lanus in a photo lineup and told detectives he shot Spears with a .
40-caliber Glock outfitted with the switch mechanism that converts it into a fully automatic weapon. Police recovered the gun used to kill Spears beside a refrigerator in Lanus’ residence, according to prosecutors. Aites testified at trial Thursday and described the shooting in detail, telling jurors the lights of Spears’ pickup illuminated a pitch-black road.
He said he and Lanus both knew someone was in the truck because the light was on in the cabin. 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, quit tripping,” as he kept driving.
But he said Lanus lowered his window as they passed and fired his gun into Spears’ truck. During closing arguments of the trial Friday afternoon, Assistant District Attorney Fredrick Scott said Lanus displayed a specific intent to kill — a legal requirement for second-degree murder — when he rolled down his window and took aim at Spears’ truck knowing it was an occupied vehicle. “The defendant tested his gun to kill,” Scott told the jurors.
“The person could’ve been my father, could’ve been your grandfather or your uncle. It could’ve been anybody. Anybody! But that somebody was Eishmel Spears.
” Prosecutors also presented text messages between Aites and Lanus in the aftermath of the shooting, where they said Aites asked his cousin if he had any remorse. They said Lanus responded with a vulgar text where he dismissed Spears' death. When Aites asked if he prayed for forgiveness, Lanus responded with a smirking emoticon and indicated he wanted to “ghost the gun” — get rid of the murder weapon — prosecutors argued.
Defense's rebuttal London Miller, a forensic DNA analyst for the Louisiana State Police forensic DNA analyst who specializes in ballistics, tested the murder weapon. She testified that there was a “very strong” match to Lanus’ DNA on the gun. But Unangst, Lanus’ trial lawyer, said he got her to concede during cross examination that the match didn’t necessarily prove the defendant ever shot or held the pistol.
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 screen shots of his and Lanus’ purported exchange, and said Lanus never sent the messages. Unangst also said there was no scientific evidence to support Aites, noting that Lanus’ DNA was nowhere in his car despite his claim that the two men rode around together in the vehicle all day.
“There is only one person the state proved fired this murder weapon out of Delmonte Aites’ car,” Unangst told jurors Friday. “And there is only one person the state proved was there when Eishmel was killed. Ladies and gentlemen, that was Delmonte Aites.
” Assistant District Attorney Cheryl Carter insisted that Aites was telling the truth and told jurors he was visibly shaken on the stand from having to testify against his family member. “I know y’all saw how torn he was to have to go to the police and tell them his cousin killed somebody. He was very torn, but he did the right thing,” she said, later adding, “The defense would have you believe Fatman is selling you something.
What the Fatman is selling you is the truth.” Lanus was freed over the weekend after spending more than 16 months in jail awaiting trial, according to his attorney. When reflecting on the trial Monday, Unangst re-emphasized Lanus’ innocence and stressed that the prosecution’s case fell apart because Aites’ story was shaky.
“I worry all the time that you can convict an innocent person,” he said. “An accusation and charge can get you arrested, get you in front of a jury. But the jury’s our last protection against innocent people being convicted.
So I’m just very proud of and thankful to this jury, and I’m very happy for Tony and his family.”.
