05:49 PM CDT on Friday, July 14, 2006

WWLTV.com

The parents of the 19-year-old man charged with killing five teenagers said they heard gunshots the night of the shootings, but said they were not fired by their son.

WWL

Michael Anderson, 19.

Michael Anderson, 19, was arrested Thursday evening and taken to central lockup. Police Chief Warren Riley described him as a career criminal, and said it was tips from people in the area that led them to him.

But Anderson’s parents said they have the wrong man.

“My kid did not do that. I will fear him if he did that. It wasn’t him,” said Michael Royals, Anderson’s father.

Anderson’s parents said he was at a French Quarter hotel with his girlfriend the night of the murders.

The suspect’s mother, Denise Anderson, said two days after the murders police searched her house for a gun, but did not find anything.

“It’s about money, people trying to claim a reward on my son. They know he didn’t do it. The police know he didn’t do it. Everybody around him knows he didn’t do it. Why they’re trying to use him as a scapegoat I don’t know, because he’s been in trouble with the law before,” said Denise Anderson.

Thursday marked the 11^th time Anderson has been arrested since 2003.

“This is a case of a classic example of a career criminal,” said Rafael Goyeneche with the Metropolitan Crime Commission.

Anderson’s criminal record included charges of possession and distribution of crack, possession of marijuana and attempted first degree murder of a police officer. Anderson was found not guilty in that case.

He was convicted twice as a juvenile: a misdemeanor possession of marijuana and a felony conviction of crack. In both cases he received probation.

But a recent arrest grabbed Goyeneche’s attention. Eleven days before the five teenagers were murdered, Anderson was charged with aggravated criminal damage, illegal use of a weapon and aggravated assault with discharge of a firearm. Hours after his arrest, Judge Charles Elloie released him on a $90,000 bond.

“There we have Judge Elloie’s face rearing itself again in another form of violence. An offender charged with weapons offenses that was released the same day he was arrested,” Goyeneche said.

Judge Elloie did not return calls made by Eyewitness News for comment.

A preliminary hearing for Anderson has been set for July 24.