St. Rose man was shot several times on Kennedy St.
A New Orleans teen pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with the death of 21-year-old St. Rose resident Richard Bailey.
Joseph Fountain, 19, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in the June shooting. Bailey was found shot to death on Kennedy Street in St. Rose hours after partying with friends in the French Quarter.
While at a French Quarter bar, Bailey ran into Fountain and three other people who were looking to purchase Mollies, which is a purified form of ecstasy. Bailey told them that his friends, who had left the same bar earlier that morning, had the drug and the group drove to Kennedy Street in St. Rose to meet up with David Hunter, Pedro Furlan Jr. and Courtney Ward, according to the arrest report.
When they arrived shortly before 5 a.m. on June 30, Bailey got out of the car, walked up to his friends and warned them that the people who drove him to St. Rose were trying to rob them, witnesses said. Furlan, Ward and Hunter all fled and Bailey, who had a gun in his waistband, walked back to the vehicle.
That’s when he got into an argument with Fountain, who witnesses say pulled out a gun and shot Bailey several times.
Fountain was originally charged with first-degree murder but pled guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter last week.The three people with Fountain were also arrested in connection with the crime.
Anthony Rotondi, 21, pled guilty to principal to attempted armed robbery and was sentenced to five years in jail. Jonah Wetwiski, 19, is also charged with principal to attempted armed robbery. A 16-year-old boy was arrested as well, but his court records are sealed because he is a juvenile.
Be the first to comment