In the early morning hours of June 30, 2014, a young man from New Orleans named Richard Bailey, aged 21, was found shot to death on Kennedy Street in St. Rose, a community near New Orleans. Responding to reports of gunfire around 5 a.m., St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office deputies discovered Bailey's body with multiple gunshot wounds. The investigation that followed quickly pointed to a drug-related robbery gone wrong.
The events leading to the fatal shooting began hours earlier in the
French Quarter, where Bailey and some friends had been partying. After his friends left a bar, Bailey encountered a group of individuals who were looking to buy 'Mollies,' a form of ecstasy. Bailey informed them that his friends had the drug, and they all drove to St. Rose to meet them. Upon their arrival, Bailey got out of the vehicle to speak with his friends—David Hunter Jr., Pedro Furlan Jr., and Courtney Ward. He warned them that the people he had arrived with were planning to rob them.
Following this warning, Bailey's friends fled the scene. Bailey, who was carrying a handgun, then walked back to the car and got into an argument with one of the men, 19-year-old Joseph John Fountain. Witnesses reported that Fountain pulled out a gun and shot Bailey several times before fleeing.
The St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office acted swiftly, making several arrests in connection with the murder. Joseph Fountain, identified as the gunman, was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals and charged with first-degree murder. Others from the group that accompanied Fountain from New Orleans were also apprehended. Jonah Wetwiski, 19, Anthony Rotondi, 21, and a 16-year-old male were all charged with principal to first-degree murder. Additionally, Bailey's three friends, David Hunter Jr., 17, Pedro Furlan Jr., 19, and Courtney Ward, 18, were arrested and charged with attempted distribution of drugs.
In a turn of events in court, Joseph Fountain pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of manslaughter and was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in Richard Bailey's death. One of his accomplices, Anthony Rotondi, pleaded guilty to principal to attempted armed robbery and received a five-year jail sentence. The court records for the 16-year-old suspect were sealed due to his juvenile status.
