NEW ORLEANS — A trial nearly five years in the making has been pushed back once again. Jury selection was scheduled to begin Monday morning in the double murder case of Kenneth Augustine.
Augustine is accused of killing Gregory Heisser III and Darnisha Desilva in a Little Woods home back in 2018, allegedly after an argument. Heisser died with one of the couple’s kids in his arms, another was nearby.
At the time, their family told our partners at The Times-Picayune, when they got to the scene they had to wipe blood off the young children’s faces.
Augustine’s lawyers asked for a new trial date because they say they’ve only been on the case for 49 days. In the courtroom, they told the judge they could not be ready for a trial of this matter in 49 days.
“If anyone wants justice to mean anything. If they want anything in this building to mean that the process should be fair and impartial then Mr. Augustine and his attorneys should be given more time to prepare,” Scott Sherman, one of Augustine’s lawyers told WWL Louisiana in front of the courthouse.
The judge overseeing the case, Judge Ben Willard became visibly angry at Augustine and his lawyers, saying they should be ready for trial.
At one point he told the defense lawyers “You can stop there because, the indictment was filed in the record on January 26, 2019. You know that that tells me, since that date the defense had an opportunity…for preparation for trial.”
Augustine’s lawyers asked for the trial to be pushed to early June, but Willard gave them one week, saying the case would be going to trial on Monday, May 13.
The victim's families told us, it’s frustrating but they want justice no matter how long it takes.
“Mama bear is going to be here, rain, hail, sleet, snow. I’m going to climb that mountain I’m going to swim that ocean. I’m going to be here to protect my kids, my son my daughter-in-law. I don’t want to ever forget Gregory Heisser III or Darnisha Desilva,” Lurline Labeaud Duncan, Heisser’s mom, said.
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