Chalmette man booked with negligent homicide after gunplay ends in fatal shooting, sheriff says

CHALMETTE, La. (WVUE) - A Chalmette man was booked with negligent homicide early Sunday (Feb. 5) after his mishandling of a loaded gun resulted in the fatal shooting of a man in his home, the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office said.

Deputies booked 22-year-old Frankie Morello with the crime after the victim died at a hospital from a gunshot to the abdomen.

The victim -- an adult male whose name and age have not been disclosed -- was shot shortly after midnight Sunday morning inside Morello’s home in the 400 block of East Solidelle Street in Chalmette, authorities said.

Sheriff James Pohlmann’s office said the victim was “an acquaintance” of Morello who was shot during a gathering at Morello’s home. Deputies arrived to find the wounded man who was transported for hospital treatment and determined that he had been shot while Morello “was handling a weapon he assumed was not loaded.”

No one else in the home was injured in the incident, authorities said.

If charged and convicted of negligent homicide, Morello would face up to five years in state prison.

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