Three teenage girls accepted a guilty plea after being accused of dragging a woman to death and severing her arm in the process last year in New Orleans while carjacking the victim’s vehicle.
According to Nola.com, the girls, Briniyah Baker, 17, Lenyra Theophile, 16, and Mar’Qel Curtis, 16, who were accused of killing Linda Frickey and had been charged with second-degree murder, took a plea deal
that will send them to prison for 20 years. The teens pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted manslaughter. Another person charged with the crime, John Honore, still faces a second-degree charge. They were all charged as adults.Just as jury selection was about to begin, the surprise plea was announced by prosecutors on Monday, Nov. 20, at Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.
The 73-year-old victim, Frickey, died on March 21, 2022. She was carjacked and dragged alongside her SUV.
Judge Kimya Holmes accepted the plea arrangement that Frickey’s family agreed to, and in handing down the sentences on Monday, she spoke to the defendants. “You are children who decided to play adults…and you affected this whole city.”
Before the girls were sentenced, two spoke to Frickey’s family in court.
Curtis said, “I wish I could go back and change the outcome. (Frickey) seemed like such a nice lady.” She also stated that doing the carjacking was “the worst decision of my life. I’m truly sorry.”
As Baker faced the family, she said, “That’s not what we set out to do and I hope that you all can forgive me.”
Theophile’s defense attorney, Gregory Carter, spoke for her by saying, “We’re tremendously thankful for the grace shown by the Frickey family to help us facilitate this plea — and our thoughts and prayers continue out to them for their loss.”
Frickey’s sister-in-law, Kathy Richard, also spoke to the young girls in giving a victim’s impact statement.
“You don’t take things that don’t belong to you,” Richard said. “You don’t hurt people. There are consequences for everything. You don’t have to be 30 years old to know right from wrong.”
The last suspect, Honore, is facing mandatory life in prison with the chance for parole in 25 years if he is convicted. Honore’s trial will take place on Nov. 27.
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