In the State of Louisiana, court case No. 2023-KA-0584, defendant Ernest M. Richardson is appealing his convictions for attempted manslaughter, simple kidnapping of a minor, and obstruction of justice in connection to a second-degree murder investigation. The appeal was filed in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal and was presided over by Chief Judge Terri F. Love on April 25, 2024.
Richardson was initially charged with second-degree murder involving the shooting death of his grandmother, Beverly Wilkerson, attempted second-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping of a minor identified as K.L., and obstruction of justice involving the second-degree murder offense. Represented by Holli Herrle-Castillo from the Louisiana Appellate Project, Richardson pled not guilty to the charges and was found incompetent to stand trial. After treatment at East Louisiana Mental Health Facility in Jackson, Louisiana, he was deemed competent for trial.
The prosecution team led by Jason Rogers Williams included Brad Scott and Patricia Amos from the District Attorney's office in Orleans Parish. They presented evidence including a 911 call from a church where Richardson announced he had shot his grandmother and testimony from Sergeant Michael Hamilton who discovered Wilkerson's body wrapped in plastic at her residence. The cause of death was confirmed as a gunshot wound to the head by Dr. Samantha Huber, chief forensic pathologist for Orleans Parish.