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NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – The mother of a 24-year-old man who was shot and paralyzed from the waist down during an August armed robbery says staff in Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams’ office have brought him a case against a juvenile who was one of two men. The shooting suspect was to be tried in juvenile court. If the decision is not reversed, the minor may be free within a few years.
Noah, a UNO student studying naval engineering, was walking in his Lake Terrace neighborhood on the night of August 18 when a black car pulled up next to him. The passenger jumped out with a gun and demanded his phone and wallet.
He said he didn’t have his wallet with him but gave his phone. It was then that the driver also got out of the car.
“Call it a gut feeling, when the driver came out it felt more aggressive,” he said. “They got really close and still had their guns pointed at me and I defended myself. I pulled out a knife. I almost got it on the driver’s shoulder.
He said he was not sure if one or both of the suspects fired the shots, but that he had been shot twice. They sped off and left him dead on the pavement, aided by a nearby Pinnacle security officer.
“Honestly, what I was most worried about was my mother. “I wasn’t really worried about myself,” Noah said. “My mother had lost a son before, so I was worried about what would happen if she lost another in her life.”
“I left it up to fate and fate decided that I should still be here to do something.”
One of the bullets shattered his rib and sent pieces of bone into his spinal cord. After graduation, his dream of working in the shipyards was dashed and he was crippled below the waist.
“Obviously now that I’m in a wheelchair, I have to rethink what I want to do in naval engineering,” Noah said. “I have to invest more of my energy worrying about getting dressed and doing mundane things that no one else has to do.”
The outcome of the incident has changed Noah’s life and he says he now feels like he has become a burden to his mother.
“The chances of never walking again are very high based on what the doctors are saying,” he said. “The change it has made is so great it’s hard to put into words.”
FOX 8 is not identifying Noah or his mother because one of the suspects in the shooting remains at large. But another man, who Noah’s mother said was only 15 years old, was arrested.
She said she was told by staff in Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams’ office that he is now scheduled to be tried in juvenile court. If the case is not transferred to adult court, the juvenile faces a maximum juvenile life sentence, which means release at age 21.
“I am fighting to get this case moved to adult court,” she said. “This guy has a life sentence because he pulled a trigger. When he pulled that trigger, he made that choice. My son didn’t make that decision to be in a wheelchair, that person put him in a wheelchair.
FOX 8 reached out to Williams’ office several times via email and text but did not receive a response. We also requested an interview with Williams, not to discuss this case specifically, but to talk about the factors considered when transferring a case to adult court, but we received no response.
Noah’s mother said Wednesday that staff in Williams’ office contacted her to set up a meeting on Nov. 16. She said she hopes the outcome of that meeting will move the case to adult court.
“The harm he caused is so great that a judge needs to go to an adult court with more discretion,” she said.
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