Trial of teen accused in killing begins
El Salvadoran man found dead in trailer Wednesday, August 06, 2008By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch
A New Orleans teenager this week is facing life behind bars for allegedly killing an El Salvadoran man in the Slidell area last year during a botched robbery.

Glenn Carter, 18, is one of four young men from New Orleans and Slidell charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Jose Luis Martinez-Carpio, 36. Testimony in Carter's trial began Tuesday.

"After Katrina, many people came here, some to help rebuild, some to make an easy buck," said Gerald Alonzo, a retired St. Tammany Parish assistant district attorney prosecuting the case. "One might say (Martinez-Carpio) came here to find a piece of the American Dream . . . but what he found was an American nightmare.


Martinez-Carpio's brother found him on one of the two beds in their trailer's living room.

His blood was splattered on that bed, and on the trailer's walls, refrigerator, floor and dresser, crime-scene photos depicted.

A pair of black and beige sandals were left abandoned, also speckled with red spots, and three .45-caliber shells were mingled among bottles of Corona and Sol beer in the kitchen.

Carter is accused of firing the three fatal shots on April 29, 2007, after Martinez-Carpio grabbed a kitchen utensil to defend himself.

Then 17, Carter and the other masked intruders burst into the trailer off Bayou Liberty Road west of Slidell and demanded money, according to testimony by St. Tammany sheriff's deputies.

Another accused gunman, Jace Washington, 20, of Slidell, and alleged accomplices Edric Cooper, 20, of Slidell, and Grant Gethers, 19, of New Orleans, also are charged in the murder.

Carter, Cooper and Gethers knew each other as former classmates at Slidell High School, authorities said.


One definition of second-degree murder includes the killing of someone "when the offender is engaged in the perpetration" of a robbery, which legally applies to all accomplices in the act, not only the triggerman.

Martinez-Carpio was cooking fish and talking on the phone with his girlfriend when the intruders entered.

He and at least six others lived in the run-down, yellow-stained and hole-laden trailer at 35591 Madison St. All were in the country illegally from El Salvador, Honduras or Mexico.

They came to the New Orleans area after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and worked as contractors, each sending most of their income home to their families abroad, according to previous testimony from residents, law enforcement officials and neighbors.

At the time, Sheriff Jack Strain said illegal immigrants typically are targeted for such robberies because they generally do not have bank accounts and keep large amounts of cash on hand.

Worried about deportation, illegal immigrants also are less likely to report crimes against them, according to local law enforcement and immigrant rights advocates.

After finding Martinez-Carpio shot in the living room, his brother and another roommate placed him in the bed of a pickup truck and drove him to Slidell Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Two .45-caliber bullets later were found lodged in Martinez-Carpio's body, one in his torso and another in his neck, having traveled there through his back. He also had been shot in his right arm, authorities said.

Carter allegedly confessed to the murder after his arrest but that confession has not yet been introduced during the trial in state Judge William Burris' courtroom. The trial is expected to last through Friday.

Defense attorney Martin Regan said during his opening statement on Tuesday that Carter essentially was coerced into making a confession to St. Tammany sheriff's officials after being held for about 27 hours without a phone call, access to a bathroom or sleep.

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Benjamin Alexander-Bloch can be reached at bbloch@timespicayune.com or 985.898.4827.


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