In the quiet evening of January 20, 2020, the life of 70-year-old Lloyd Patrick Vanderhorst, Sr. was tragically cut short in his New Orleans home. A self-employed carpenter and a graduate of the 1967 class of George Washington Carver High School, Mr. Vanderhorst was a father, grandfather to fourteen, and great-grandfather to six. His life, however, would end in a violent home invasion.
That night, at approximately 8:05 p.m., New Orleans Police Department officers from the Third District
were dispatched to the 1600 block of Treasure Street following a report of an aggravated battery by shooting. Upon their arrival, they discovered a male victim, later identified as Mr. Vanderhorst, suffering from a gunshot wound. Emergency medical services pronounced him dead at the scene.
The investigation into the homicide led by NOPD Homicide Unit detectives quickly identified a suspect. Azemore Joseph, born on July 4, 1985, was positively identified as the perpetrator. Preceding the fatal home invasion, Joseph had reportedly made numerous threatening phone calls to the 70-year-old victim. An arrest warrant was secured, and on January 24, 2020, Azemore Joseph was taken into custody and booked into the Orleans Parish Justice Center on one count of second-degree murder.
The legal proceedings that followed saw a significant development on August 15, 2023. On the second day of his murder trial, Azemore Joseph entered a guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter. This plea brought a form of closure to a case that began with a violent intrusion and ended with the loss of a beloved family man.
