John Honore, 18, Found Guilty in Carjacking Murder of Linda Frickey

The teenager who dragged a New Orleans woman to her gruesome death during a March 2022 carjacking in Mid-City was convicted of second-degree murder Monday night (Nov. 27).

An Orleans Parish jury deliberated about 3 1/2 hours before finding 18-year-old John Honore guilty as charged. Honore faces a mandatory lifetime prison term, with the possibility of parole after 25 years, when Judge Kimya Holmes imposes his sentence on Jan. 12.

Jury deliberations began around 4:20 p.m. and the verdict was returned at 8 p.m.

Honore’s accomplices -- 17-year-old Briniyah Baker, 16-year-old Lenyra Theophile, and 16-year-old Mar’Qel Curtis -- pleaded guilty to lesser charges of attempted manslaughter last week. The three co-defendants were each sentenced to 20-year prison terms.

In the courtroom, the prosecution painted a harrowing picture of the events. Prosecutors Matthew Derbes and Forrest Ladd said Honore and his accomplices approached Frickey’s car on Bienville Street. After a failed attempt due to passing cars, prosecutors say a masked Honore pepper-sprayed and dragged Frickey partially out of her car and subjected her to a brutal assault before she was dragged over 700 feet.

The prosecution says video evidence shows Honore carrying out the merciless act. Frickey, tethered by a seatbelt, pleaded for her life, but Honore reportedly continued the assault.

“The defendant, after pepper spraying her, grabs her, pulls her out of her car, puts heel to her face, stomps her on the head, gets on top, punches her, gets into the driver seat and you will see decisions made that ended Frickey’s life,” prosecutors argued. “She was screaming and pleading for him to stop. (The defendant) dragged her over 700 feet - or two football fields.”

[...] Honore’s father was removed from the courtroom after an outburst.

[....] After deliberations began, Honore’s father was overheard yelling in the hallway that it was “so unprofessional to railroad me and my son.”