SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – In a unanimous decision, it took a nine-woman-three man jury only 45 minutes to find a Shreveport man not guilty of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder in Caddo District Court on Friday,
Carlos Franklin, 40, was accused in the 2016 death of Gina Foster and the wounding of Syborio Foster.
Franklin spent more than four-and-a-half years in Caddo Correctional Center after being arrested April 22, 2016 for the early morning shooting that resulted in the death of 55-year-old Gina Foster and the wounding of her grandson, Syborio Foster.
Witnesses at the scene told police a small tan-colored Cadillac Cateria stopped at a stop sign for an extended period of time before turning down the 4100 block of Martha Street.
Then, witnesses said, the passenger opened fire on a group of people standing outside, including Gina Foster, suffered a lethal gunshot wound to the head, and Syborio Foster, who suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder.
At the trial, the State, represented by Jason Waltman and Edwin Blewer, called Curtis Foster and Syborio Foster to testify.
Both Curtis Foster and Syborio Foster testified they saw Carlos Franklin in the passenger seat when he rose up and began firing at them.
But neither the murder weapon, the car, physical evidence or photographic evidence linking Franklin to the shooting was provided to the jury.
During cross examination, Franklin’s attorney, J. David Shepherd, pointed out the inconsistencies between witnesses’ testimony, along with inconsistencies between prior statements made by witnesses and their testimony given at trial.