JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — Jalen Harvey, the man convicted of killing Joseph Vindel while he was attempting to sell a dirt bike over social media in 2021, was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday.
Harvey was convicted to life without parole after being found guilty of first-degree murder in Vindel’s death.
The case made headlines as Joseph Vindel's body was found shot to death inside of his own vehicle on Coliseum Street in the Garden District of New Orleans in March 2021.
Vindel’s mother and father spoke in court before the sentencing, saying that he was, “a rocket getting ready to take off that (Harvey) shot down.”
"I will never be OK with what happened to Joe," his mother Patricia Muller said. "It is simply inconceivable. Too awful to even acknowledge.”
Vindel’s father, Lindsey Vindel, brought a picture of himself standing next to his son as a young child riding a bike. He said he son will never get the chance to recreate that photo.
"There is no helping me," Lindsey Vindel said. "I'm 70 years old, I don't have a lot of time left, it's not a bad thing now."
Jefferson Parish investigators said that Vindel listed his dirt bike on Facebook Marketplace before his death. His interactions with Harvey led them to identify him as a suspect in the case.
Prosecutors said Harvey shot Vindel, while he was still inside of his vehicle, when they met up for the sale. Vindel did have a pistol on him, but court testimony said that a round was, "never chambered," meaning that he had not prepared to fire it.
Harvey maintains that Vindel pulled a gun on him first, though there was no evidence to back up that claim.
The Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office said that Vindel was still alive as Harvey dragged his body from the front to back seats. Harvey then drove Vindel's vehicle and dropped it off at the Coliseum Street location, where it was later discovered.
Evidence showed that his body had been doused with gasoline in an attempted to destroy any DNA evidence.
Harvey will serve his life sentence at Angola.
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