DA Press Releases

Marion Taylor & Justin Collins Convicted of Second Degree Murder

(New Orleans, LA) -  This evening, an Orleans Parish jury found co-defendants Marion J. Taylor and Justin F. Collins guilty as charged of second degree murder for last year's shooting death of twenty-seven year old Jerome Sparkman.  Sparkman was fatally shot twice in the head while driving his vehicle toward the intersection of Josephine and Laurel Streets on the afternoon of April 7, 2008. The incident occurred in front of an area convenience store in the presence of two youth who were both under the age of 12 years old at the time of the shooting.   According to witnesses, both Collins, 18, and Taylor, 20, were in the car when the two shots were fired.  Collins was seated in the passenger seat during the incident and fired the first shot, which lodged into the right side of the victim's head. The victim was also shot once in the rear of his head.  After the shooting, witnesses saw Collins and Taylor, both of whom were carrying handguns, exit the car and flee the scene.  Collins exited from the passenger side of the vehicle and Taylor exited from the rear driver's side of the vehicle. At trial, prosecutors argued that both men acted as principles in the homicide and had the specific intent to kill the victim, which makes them “equally culpable under the law.” Assistant District Attorneys Margaret Parker and Francesca Bridges prosecuted this case.  Collins and Taylor will be sentenced on September 18, 2009.  Second degree murder carries an automatic penalty of life imprisonment. This is the fourth homicide case to end in conviction in Orleans Parish this week.

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