NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – The son of a carjacking victim is frustrated and disgusted after finding out that the Office of Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams missed a key deadline in the case.
The two teenagers accused of the crime may not have to face the charges in adult court even though the victim was critically wounded.
The family of 59-year-old Scott Toups says he was nearly left for dead after being carjacked and shot this past July.
Scott is now out of the hospital after spending months in the intensive care unit but remains in physical therapy.
Scott’s son, Cameron Toups, who lives in Florida, says it was the district attorney’s idea to try the two teenage suspects as adults.
“He was very adamant about everything he said at first, again, at first,” Cameron said. “He was very adamant about the charges that he wanted to present, the timeline he was going to present the charges, everything that was going to happen moving forward after that, and you know, he was ready to pretty much take care of this.”
However, Cameron says it seems as if everything changed once his father’s biggest cheerleader, his mother Stacie, passed away in November.
“I guess it seems like if you don’t have somebody calling you every day, he doesn’t care, and now he’s dodging everybody’s calls because I’ve been trying to call him for the past two days,” Cameron said.
Scott’s son says he would like to know why Williams’ office missed the deadline to bring formal charges in adult court, an update he knows his mom wouldn’t stand for.
“She would be banging on the doors of Jason Williams’ office,” Cameron said. “I mean, she’s a fighter. She would march the courthouse right now.”
Williams’ office released the following statement:
“First, these defendants are still in custody and we will endeavor to ensure that remains the case.
This a case of being careful rather than careless. We worked systematically to build cases that we could win at trial, which included visiting the victim’s bedside and listening to the wishes of the family during the victim’s incapacity. It is imperative that this matter is handled with the appropriate level of care, in a way that is lasting rather than hasty. We owe it to Scott Toups and the memory of his loving wife to do this right and in a way that offers the best odds of prevailing at trial.
The system is not set up to be able to make a thoughtful and informed decision within the limited time period. However, the law is clear that even if the State doesn’t to meet this time limit, dismissal of the prosecution is not an appropriate remedy. Therefore, the judge who quashed the indictments in these cases did so in error and we are taking this matter to the Court of Appeal and State Supreme Court if necessary.”
“There’s going to be an end in sight, and there’s going to be an appeal,” Cameron said. “If that doesn’t happen, we’ll take different routes. I mean, we’re all fighters, and I’m not going to let this go.”
A status hearing for the state’s appeal is scheduled for April 3.