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An 18-year-old Louisiana man was convicted in the carjacking death of a 73-year-old grandmother, thrown from her vehicle but caught in her seatbelt and dragged by the car before her arm was severed.
John Honore was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of life insurance agent Linda Frickey. Three others — Briniyah Baker, 17, Lenyra Theophile, 16, and Mar’Qel Curtis, 16 — pleaded guilty to attempted manslaughter charges and were sentenced to 20 years in prison.
“It’s freeing,” said Kathy Richard, Frickey’s sister-in-law, outside Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. “Now we feel like we can put Linda to rest.”
Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams said the conviction serves as a reminder that violent acts in New Orleans will not go unpunished.
Three teenagers pleaded guilty in the killing of Linda Frickey. (Crime scene screenshot from ABC New Orleans, Louisiana, affiliate WGNO-TV)
“Human beings who hurt human beings in this city will be held to account,” he said. “We must recognize that our city and our neighborhoods deserve to be places of safety and security.”
“This family will never be the same,” he added. “This jury will never be the same because of the images that will be seared in their minds forever.”
Honore wrote a letter to Linda Frickey’s family, saying, “I made the biggest mistake of my life.”
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“I say the our father prayer every day and night,” it reads, local affiliate WWL-TV reported. “I ask for forgiveness everyday.”
Defense attorney William Boggs explained his client’s actions as “Sometimes idiot children do awful things” and asked the jury to show Honore mercy, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.
The killing happened on March 21, 2022. Police responded officers responded to a carjacking call at about 1:35 p.m. Once there, police found Frickey’s body on the ground — her arm severed, prosecutors said in a news release.
Prosecutors said Honore punched and kicked Frickey, forcing her from her Nissan SUV, in the armed carjacking.
She became tangled in her seatbelt, causing her arm to be severed from her body and dragged. Prosecutors said Honore led the attack while Theophile and Baker were in the SUV as Honore drove away and Curtis fled within seconds, NOLA.com reported.
The SUV was found later in the day. Surveillance video showed four people believed to be the perpetrators. After police circulated the photos through media, the mother of one of the 15-year-old female suspects turned her daughter in. Later that evening, officers arrested the male suspect and a second female suspect after receiving information from the male suspect’s parents. The remaining female suspect surrendered later.
Frickey was a dedicated agent for Security Plan Life Insurance for 28 years, her obituary said.
“Linda could go nowhere without either bumping into someone she knew, or making a new friend,” the obit read. “She was also a licensed cosmetologist, though mostly she only practiced on family and friends. She enjoyed shopping, especially with her Princess Prudence. She also loved spending time with her family, especially the weekly meeting of her sisters, which was affectionately known as ‘The Hen Party.””
Honore’s set to be sentenced on Jan. 12 and faces a life sentence with a chance at parole after 25 years.
