An Avondale man and Gretna teenager are in the Jefferson Parish jail, charged with the armed robbery and murder of a Hispanic immigrant worker in Terrytown.

On Aug. 30, Heriberto Montoya was gunned down during a botched robbery in front of his apartment at 940 Monterey Court. Another man, Hernesto Valasquez was also wounded in the attack.

Jefferson Sheriff Newell Normand announced the arrest of 20-year-old Brandell Scie and 17-year-old Drevon James.

"What makes this case a little different from most is that they were intentionally targeting Hispanics because of their belief of their failure to report and their reluctance to participate and or cooperate with law enforcement," said Normand.

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"In this particular case, the two victims the decedent as well as the other individual who was shot were illegal and their belief was in targeting illegals is they would not cooperate with law enforcement."

During the investigation, detectives learned Scie and James were part of a larger group targeting Hispanic workers.

The JPSO arrested three other men in a series of armed robberies on the West Bank.

Dellon Battle, 18, Davant, La., Elvin Ascension Calcano, 23, and William Smith, 17, both of Terrytown now face armed robbery charges.

Deputies are looking for a fourth suspect, Betrand Jones, 17, of 545 W. Marlin Ct., Terrytown, on two armed robbery charges.

Eyewitness News spoke with some Hispanic workers on Monterey Court. One man from Mexico who did not want to show his face told us he and his fellow workers feel very vulnerable on the West Bank.

"We just come to work and they try to get all of our money, you know," he said. "That's why we're scared sometimes about it. We just come to work, that's it."

Antonio Avila, a welder from Honduras says fear of being robbed keeps him off the streets at night.

"When I don't work, I'm in my house," Avila said.

Martin Guetierrez with Catholic Charities Hispanic Apostolate says Hispanic workers are targets because many of them are paid in cash and some are in the country illegally.

"The criminal element realizes that many of these workers are hesitant to report any types of crimes to the police, so they take advantage of that situation," said Guetierrez.

Sheriff Normand says the two workers may have been shot because they couldn't speak English and did not understand the robbers’ demands.