Anthony Bell – black, age 25

Sentenced in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana

By: a jury

Date of crime: May 21, 2006

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Bell murdered his wife, Erica Bell (age 24), and four in-laws: Bell’s grandparents Gloria (age 72) and Leonard Howard (age 78); Bell’s second cousin Darlene Selvage (age 47); Bell’s great-aunt Doloris McGrew (age 68). Bell shot his four in-laws, in the back of the head, during church service. He also shot and injured his mother-in-law Claudia Brown. Then, Bell kidnapped his wife and shot her, in the back of the head, in a car in a nearby apartment parking lot. During the penalty phase Bell represented himself but later asked for reappointment of counsel.

Prosecutor(s): Mark Dumaine, Aaron Brooks

Defense lawyer(s): Margaret Lagattuta, Greg Rome

Sources: Baton Rouge Advocate 4/18/08 (2008 WLNR 7284821), 5/6/08 (2008 WLNR 8467154), 9/12/08 (2008 WLNR 17365867); AP Alert 4/18/08 – LA 03:21:09; www.ebrda.org/pdfs/MR1208.pdf; www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=8184770

  
Sanchez Brumfield – black, age 21

Sentenced in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana

By: a jury

Date of crime: September 8, 2006

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Brumfield and Tracy Young fatally shot Aaron Arnold (age 21) and wounded Dionne Grayson (age 28) during an attempted robbery. The victims were shot on the night of September 8, 2006, in the parking lot behind a restaurant while Arnold was helping Grayson put gas in her car. The jury found that Brumfield ordered Young to shoot the victims during the botched robbery attempt.

Prosecutor(s): Aaron Brooks

Defense lawyer(s): Bruce Craft, Fred Kroenke

Sources: Baton Rouge Advocate 5/29/08 (2008 WLNR 10148469), 5/30/08 (2008 WLNR 10265233), 12/3/08 (2008 WLNR 23244518); www.wafb.com/global/story.asp?s=8395867

  
Michael Garcia – Latino, age 27

Sentenced in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana

By: a jury

Date of crime: February 8, 2006

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Garcia, his brother, Daniel Garcia, and James Nelson II robbed, kidnapped and murdered Matthew Millican (age 32), a homeless man, and beat and repeated raped his companion, Megan Teresi, a homeless woman. The three men abducted Millican and Teresi who were sleeping outdoors behind a hotel and took them into nearby woods. Garcia robbed Millican and led him to the bank of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway where he stabbed Millican to death and dumped him into the waterway. Teresi was beaten, sexually assaulted and repeated raped by all three men over several hours. Garcia was sentenced to death for the first-degree murder of Millican. The jurors noted the aggravating circumstances of armed robbery and aggravated kidnapping on their verdict form.

Prosecutor(s): Tony Clayton

Defense lawyer(s): Jerry, D’Aquila, Tommy Thompson

Sources: Baton Rouge Advocate 6/8/08 (2008 WLNR 10828217), 7/9/08 (2008 WLNR 12871516); www.2theadvocate.com/news/19624309.html?showAll=y&c=y; www.wilx.com/news/headlines/19633714.html