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Freshly installed Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams will review his predecessors decision to not to prosecute a homicide case with facts that date back to 2013, when it received widespread local attention, an office spokesman said.More than seven years ago, New Orleans police arrested Marigny homeowner Merritt Landry after Landry allegedly shot 14-year-old Marshall Coulter in the head as Coulter trespassed on his property. The boy survived, and Landry was initially booked on a charge of attempted second-degree murder. Months later, then-DA Leon Cannizzaro declined to prosecute the case after a grand jury failed to reach a decision and Coulter faced new allegations of burglarizing homes. A development in the case came Feb. 27, 2020, when Coulter died at age 21. WDSU learned about his death after the NOPD recently provided its official list of homicides for last year. Coulter's case was included in the list.A spokesman for New Orleans Coroner Dwight McKennas office said the death was ruled a homicide in connection to the July 26, 2013, shooting. The coroners office lists the cause of death as complications of sinusitis and remote gunshot wound of the head, along with bacterial meningoencephalitis with subdural empyema.The NOPD also classified the death as a homicide and, according to DAs office spokesman Ken Daley, notified the Cannizzaro administration about the death during the fourth quarter of 2020, and submitted a report documenting the death on Dec. 14, 2020. Staff from Cannizzaros administration, including First Assistant District Attorney Graymond Martin and the homicide screening division, agreed the report provided no new evidence surrounding the 2013 shooting that warranted reopening the inquiry, Daley said in a statement on Thursday. The case against Mr. Landry was closed following a grand jurys decision not to indict Mr. Landry in connection with the shooting, and after Mr. Coulters subsequent 2014 arrests for additional burglary, attempted burglary and aggravated burglary accusations, Daley said. Landry's attorney, Roger Jordan, said Coulter's death should not trigger new charges. "This case was justifiable in 2013, its justifiable now. Facts dont change," Jordan told WDSU.The Marigny shooting involving a white homeowner and Black teenager occurred about seven months after George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. A jury acquitted Zimmerman for second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in July 2013.Martins death sparked the Black Lives Matter movement that gathered new momentum this past summer with the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and other Black people. Like the Martin shooting, the Coulter shooting tested the states stand-your-ground law and castle doctrine, which allow people to defend their homes and property.Daley said Williams administration will review Coulters homicide and the 2013 shooting file in the coming weeks. Should any different course of action be decided the public will be informed at the appropriate time, he said.

Freshly installed Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams will review his predecessors decision to not to prosecute a homicide case with facts that date back to 2013, when it received widespread local attention, an office spokesman said.

More than seven years ago, New Orleans police arrested Marigny homeowner Merritt Landry after Landry allegedly shot 14-year-old Marshall Coulter in the head as Coulter trespassed on his property. The boy survived, and Landry was initially booked on a charge of attempted second-degree murder.

Months later, then-DA Leon Cannizzaro declined to prosecute the case after a grand jury failed to reach a decision and Coulter faced new allegations of burglarizing homes.

A development in the case came Feb. 27, 2020, when Coulter died at age 21. WDSU learned about his death after the NOPD recently provided its official list of homicides for last year. Coulter's case was included in the list.

A spokesman for New Orleans Coroner Dwight McKennas office said the death was ruled a homicide in connection to the July 26, 2013, shooting. The coroners office lists the cause of death as complications of sinusitis and remote gunshot wound of the head, along with bacterial meningoencephalitis with subdural empyema.

The NOPD also classified the death as a homicide and, according to DAs office spokesman Ken Daley, notified the Cannizzaro administration about the death during the fourth quarter of 2020, and submitted a report documenting the death on Dec. 14, 2020. Staff from Cannizzaros administration, including First Assistant District Attorney Graymond Martin and the homicide screening division, agreed the report provided no new evidence surrounding the 2013 shooting that warranted reopening the inquiry, Daley said in a statement on Thursday.

The case against Mr. Landry was closed following a grand jurys decision not to indict Mr. Landry in connection with the shooting, and after Mr. Coulters subsequent 2014 arrests for additional burglary, attempted burglary and aggravated burglary accusations, Daley said.

Landry's attorney, Roger Jordan, said Coulter's death should not trigger new charges.

"This case was justifiable in 2013, its justifiable now. Facts dont change," Jordan told WDSU.

The Marigny shooting involving a white homeowner and Black teenager occurred about seven months after George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. A jury acquitted Zimmerman for second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in July 2013.

Martins death sparked the Black Lives Matter movement that gathered new momentum this past summer with the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and other Black people. Like the Martin shooting, the Coulter shooting tested the states stand-your-ground law and castle doctrine, which allow people to defend their homes and property.

Daley said Williams administration will review Coulters homicide and the 2013 shooting file in the coming weeks.

Should any different course of action be decided the public will be informed at the appropriate time, he said.

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New DA Jason Williams to review homicide in 2013 'stand your ground' case - WDSU New Orleans