(NewsNation) – A month after a janitor was shot dead in the driveway of a suburban New Orleans home, police testified in court about a possible racial component to the shooting.
Maurice Holmes, 25, and Tahj Matthews, 23, two black men, have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Lawrence Herr, a white man who was shot April 10 while putting up a mailbox at a house in Kenner. Louisiana.
The 66-year-old was taken to a hospital, where he died.
A Kenner Police Department detective testified during a May 9 court hearing that one of the suspects admitted his role in the shooting and said he “wanted to kill a white man,” WVUE-TV reported.
Investigator Nicolas Engler said at the hearing that Holmes and Matthews were spotted on surveillance video at an apartment complex two hours before the murder, WVUE reported. According to Engler, the video shows Holmes handing a gun to Matthews.
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Engler told the court that both men worked at IHOP, and Matthews produced a medical certificate on the morning of the shooting saying he was ill and allowed to go.
As reported by NewsNation affiliate WGNO-TV, police said they used license plate reading technology to track down the car featured in video of the drive-by shooting. Officials report that the vehicle passed the house three times before stopping and shooting Mr.
At the court hearing, Engler testified that Matthews confessed to hiding the gun in the attic of his home, WWL-TV reported. A gun was found during a search of the property.
A judge denied a defense request for bail for both men, who remain incarcerated at Jefferson Parish Correctional Center.
NewsNation affiliate WGNO-TV contributed to this report.
