NEW ORLEANS — September 11, 2021 is the day Madison Bergeron will never forget. Bergeron told Eyewitness News she had just pulled into the driveway, and was grabbing some things in her car, when she says she felt someone tugging on her handbag. She says she turned around and her attacker pulled a gun.
"He pulled the weapon out, he said give me everything you have," said Bergeron.
She says the attacker took her car, along with everything else inside it.
Meanwhile over in Mid-City, that same day, another victim who asked us to protect her identity said she had just gotten home from running an errand, when the exact same thing happened.
"There was a white car catty-corned blocking me in and next thing I turn and there's yelling, and there's a gun barrel in my face. The kid is yelling to get the "F out the car, get the F out the car," or else he'll shoot, so thinking I might die in that moment, my life flashed before my eyes, I complied."
This survivor was a victim of the same attacker who carjacked Bergeron. The women said the juvenile was sentenced to three years probation. New Orleans District Attorney, Jason Williams said in part, "It was abundantly clear based on the facts, evidence, and circumstances that serious jail time was required…. "We are extremely disappointed in the sentence that was ultimately handed down."
But it was more than just the sentence that didn't sit right with the victim, it was the high profile figure sitting alongside the attacker's family that had the survivors confused and angry.
"The mayor is sitting by their side, consoling his family and it just kind of makes you think, whose side is the city on? Like, are they on your side? Do they care about victims?"
The woman who asked to remain anonymous said, "She was sitting on the side of the attacker. She was sitting next to his mom. She was there for his mom and she wasn't there for us. She was there for the crime."
We reached out to the Mayor's office asking why Mayor Cantrell was at court Thursday and why she was supporting the juvenile's family. We didn't hear back.
The DA said, "Nobody at the DA's Office, myself included, was given advance notice of the Mayor's presence or can provide any context for her participation at yesterday's hearing."