Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
SLIDELL, La. (WGNO) — Two teenagers were arrested by St. Tammany Parish detectives Friday morning in connection to a shooting earlier in the week that left a 19-year-old driver dead and a passenger wounded.
The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office says that a 15-year-old suspect was taken into custody at a Slidell home in connection to the fatal shooting. The juvenile was booked into the Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center on one count of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder.
We’re told a second suspect, 18-year-old Deanthony Williams was also arrested at a home in New Orleans in connection to the homicide investigation. Williams was booked as a fugitive into the Orleans Justice Center and awaits extradition. Upon returning to St. Tammany Parish, he will also be charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
The shooting happened around midnight Tuesday morning when neighbors reported hearing shots fired in the 100 block of Northwood Drive. That’s where police saw a car, driven by 19-year-old Ralph Landes of Lacombe, crashed into a parked pickup.
Landes was discovered to have been shot multiple times, leading him to crash. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
An unidentified male passenger was also shot while inside the car. He was taken to an area hospital for a non-life-threatening wound to his leg.
Details on what led up to the shooting, including a possible motive, were unavailable. The shooting remains under investigation by the STPSO. Anyone with any information regarding the shooting is urged to contact the STPSO at 985-898-2338.