Suspect arrested in murder on North Prieur ; 3 others sought in slayings

New Orleans homicide detectives on Friday arrested one suspect in connection to a July slaying and publicly identified three others wanted in different cases.

At 3:22 a.m., officers booked Darrell Lewis, 23, with the second-degree murder of 18-year-old Deshawn Stewart, according to jail records. Investigators think Lewis shot Stewart once in the chest the night of July 18, leaving him to die in the 1500 block of North Prieur Street.
The two were acquaintances and had been in an argument, police said. Detectives had issued an arrest warrant for Lewis, identified by homicide detective Anthony Pardo as the trigger-man, on July 20, according to the New Orleans Police Department. Meanwhile, Kevin Burns, a New Orleans homicide detective, is turning to the public to help him find three suspects - all convicted criminals - wanted in connection to three separate murders he is in charge of.

One is from Tuesday; another is from July 10; and another is an April 18 murder near a popular college bar in Uptown.

Investigators want Alvin Tuckson, 40, in connection to the Tuesday night murder of James A. Jones Jr. in the Iberville housing complex.

Police believe someone whistled for Jones, luring him out of his home, and then fired a fatal shot to his body. Burns later identified Tuckson as a suspect and obtained an arrest warrant for him.

The 40-year-old now faces a second-degree murder charge if he is caught.

In the July 10 shooting murder, investigators believe Samuel Mack, 36, is guilty of the first-degree murder of Mark Westbrook, 33, and of the shooting of a 32-year-old woman.

That night, officers responding to a shooting found Westbrook lying in the middle of the street near the intersection of Chef Menteur Highway and Laine Avenue with a gunshot wound to the head. Nearby, officers also found a 32-year-old woman bleeding from a bullet wound in her arm.

Burns, heading that case as well, later identified Mack as a suspect and obtained an arrest warrant. Police don't have a handle on his whereabouts, however, according to a statement by NOPD spokeswoman Shereese Harper.

In the April 18 slaying, police accuse Brandon Banks of the second-degree murder.

Investigators think Banks played a part in shooting Williams dead in a sport utility vehicle as he had apparently turned onto Dufossat Street from LaSalle Street to drop off his girlfriend, who lived less than a block from the bar.

A gunman or gunmen in a nearby car took aim at Williams' car and opened fire. At least two bullets struck him.

Williams sped away, but he spun his car out, crashing into the handicapped-access ramp of the popular Friar Tuck's Bar, packed with patrons who ran out crying, screaming and shouting, according to witnesses.
No one was hurt, however.

Banks faces second-degree murder charges if he is caught.