In the early hours of a Tuesday morning, the quiet of a Marrero neighborhood was shattered by gunfire that claimed the life of 20-year-old Deshon Evans, a Black male, on October 8, 2013. The fatal incident unfolded inside a residence in the 5900 block of Becker Street shortly before 2 a.m. Evans was in a room with a 19-year-old friend, the two of them engrossed in recording music, when multiple gunmen stormed in and opened fire.
Evans was struck by six bullets, with two to the head, and was pronounced dead at the scene, still seated in his chair. His friend was shot four times but managed to survive the brutal attack and would later become a key witness. There were at least three other individuals in the home at the time of the shooting, none of whom were injured.
The investigation into the violent home invasion quickly led authorities to identify three suspects. Arrest warrants were issued for brothers Kevin Hicks, 25, and Kevias Hicks, 22, both of New Orleans, and 21-year-old Tommie “Tucker” Molette of Marrero. They were sought on charges of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. The subsequent legal proceedings brought to light the violent history of the assailants, with Kevias Hicks also being implicated in a separate shooting in July of that same year at a Marrero apartment complex. In that incident, a woman and her 2-year-old son were caught in the crossfire of what was described as a retaliatory, ambush-style attack, with the toddler being struck by a bullet but surviving.
After a four-day trial in June 2017, a Jefferson Parish jury found Kevin Hicks, then 28, his brother Kevias Hicks, 26, and Tommie “Tucker” Molette, 24, guilty of the second-degree murder of Deshon Evans and the attempted second-degree murder of his friend. The three men were subsequently sentenced to mandatory life in prison for the murder. They also received the maximum 50-year sentences for the attempted murder charge, to be served concurrently with their life sentences. During the sentencing, both Evans's mother and the surviving victim gave impact testimony, in which they expressed their forgiveness toward the three convicted men for their actions. The jury in the same trial also found Kevias Hicks guilty of two counts of attempted second-degree murder for the earlier shooting that injured the 2-year-old boy, adding a consecutive 50-year sentence for each of those counts.
