Bertrand Christopher Dezara III, a 19-year-old male, was a promising Xavier University of Louisiana pre-med student with aspirations of becoming a sports doctor. His life was tragically cut short on Saturday, March 9, 2013, when he was fatally shot in New Orleans. The events leading to his death began inside an apartment in eastern New Orleans, from which he was forcibly taken to the courtyard of the complex and shot.
The investigation into the murder of Bertrand Dezara III led to the
arrests of three individuals. Two of the men, Glynn Hawkins and Alex Lewis, who were both 22 years old at the time of the verdict, were subsequently tried for their involvement in the crime. In September 2015, an Orleans Parish jury found both Hawkins and Lewis guilty of second-degree murder. The conviction carried a mandatory life sentence for both men.
A third defendant, Jerrel Bryer, was also indicted for second-degree murder in connection with Dezara's death. However, his case was separated from that of Hawkins and Lewis, and he was granted a separate trial to be held at a later date. The gun used in Dezara's murder was reportedly linked to several other crimes throughout the city of New Orleans, highlighting a larger issue of gun violence that plagued the community.
