Three teenagers have pleaded guilty in the carjacking death of a 73-year-old grandmother thrown from her vehicle but caught in her seatbelt and dragged by the car before her arm was severed as the teens drove away.
Briniyah Baker, 17, Lenyra Theophile, 16, and Mar’Qel Curtis, 16, entered their pleas to a charge of attempted manslaughter in the death of Linda Frickey. They were charged as adults in Orleans Parish, Louisiana. They were all sentenced to 20 years in prison, NOLA.com reported. The fourth defendant, John Honore, 18, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and is set for trial on Monday.
Three teenagers pleaded guilty in the killing of Linda Frickey. (Crime scene screenshot from ABC New Orleans, Louisiana, affiliate WGNO-TV)
“You are children who decided to play adults … and you affected this whole city,” Judge Kimya Holmes said in handing down the sentences to the juveniles.
“For them to plead guilty and say they want to do the 20 years is a relief to us,” Frickey’s sister said.
Curtis said her involvement in the carjacking was “the worst decision of my life,” she wished she “could go back and change the outcome,” and Frickey “seemed like such a nice lady.”
Baker asked for forgiveness, the newspaper reported.
The killing happened on March 21, 2022. Police responded officers responded to a carjacking call at about 1:35 p.m. Once there, police found Frickey’s body lying on the ground unresponsive — her arm severed, prosecutors said in a news release.
Prosecutors alleged Honore punched and kicked Frickey, forcing her from her Nissan SUV, in the armed carjacking.
She became tangled in her seatbelt, causing her arm to be severed from her body and dragged. Prosecutors said Honore led the attack while Theophile and Baker were in the SUV as Honore drove away and Curtis fled within seconds, NOLA reported.
The SUV was found later in the day. Surveillance video showed four people believed to be the perpetrators. After police circulated the photos through media, the mother of one of the 15-year-old female suspects turned her daughter in. Later in the evening, officers found and arrested the male suspect and a second female suspect after receiving information from the male suspect’s parents. The remaining female suspect surrendered later.
Frickey was a dedicated agent for Security Plan Life Insurance for 28 years, her obituary said.
“Linda could go nowhere without either bumping into someone she knew, or making a new friend,” the obit read. “She was also a licensed cosmetologist, though mostly she only practiced on family and friends. She enjoyed shopping, especially with her Princess Prudence. She also loved spending time with her family, especially the weekly meeting of her sisters which was affectionately known as ‘The Hen Party.””
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