A New Orleans judge has found Darnell L. Hunter guilty of second-degree murder for slashing a man's throat on Orleans Avenue in 2024, a killing prosecutors say came after the victim had already been lying on the ground, unmoving, for nearly an hour. In a separate case announced the same day, Ted L. Breaux was sentenced to 40 years in prison — the maximum allowed under state law — for gunning down a man at point-blank range outside a New Orleans East convenience store.
According to the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office, Judge Harris reached the guilty verdict against Hunter following a two-day bench trial in Section L of Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. Prosecutors say Hunter fatally attacked Charles Fink on Orleans Avenue on April 2, 2024, and that surveillance footage showed Fink lying on the ground for 50 minutes before Hunter carried out what the office described as an unprovoked attack. Sentencing in the case is set for September 10.
NOPD Eighth District officers arrested Hunter in the 300 block of Bourbon Street shortly after the killing, not far from some of the French Quarter's busiest tourist blocks. Officers recovered two switchblade knuckle knives from his backpack, and the office says one of the weapons bore blood evidence. NOPD Homicide Detective Walter Edmond reviewed surveillance footage to identify Hunter as a suspect, per the district attorney's account.
What Second-Degree Murder Means for Hunter's Sentence
Because Hunter was convicted of second-degree murder, Louisiana Revised Statute 14:30.1 leaves the judge no discretion in September: the law mandates life imprisonment at hard labor without the possibility of parole, probation, or a suspended sentence, according to the Ambeau Law Firm. That statutory rigidity stands in contrast to the outcome in the parish's other case announced this week.
In that second prosecution, Ted L. Breaux was convicted of manslaughter and received a 40-year sentence for the August 11, 2024 shooting of Desean Leggett outside Chef Discount Market at 10833 Chef Menteur Highway. The district attorney's office says surveillance video captured Breaux stepping outside the store and shooting Leggett multiple times in the face as Leggett reached for the door. Under Louisiana Revised Statute 14:31, manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of 40 years at hard labor, meaning Breaux received the highest sentence state law allows, according to Sudduth & Associates, LLC. Manslaughter is defined under Louisiana law as a homicide committed in sudden passion or without specific intent during certain underlying offenses, the firm notes.
A New Orleans East Corridor Under Watch
The shooting outside Chef Discount Market took place along a stretch of Chef Menteur Highway that the NOPD has designated a high-priority enforcement corridor for targeted traffic, speed, and public-safety operations, according to the Bloom Legal Network. New Orleans East corridors have historically seen elevated rates of commercial property crime and violent incidents, the outlet notes.
Assistant District Attorney Corey Tassin led both homicide prosecutions and serves as the office's Deputy Chief of Trials, a role in which he has regularly handled major violent felony cases for Orleans Parish, including high-profile public corruption and murder trials, per the district attorney's office.
Convictions Land Amid Falling Homicide Numbers
The two cases close out against a backdrop of declining violence in Orleans Parish. Data from the Metropolitan Crime Commission through August 9 shows the parish recorded 52 homicide victims so far this year, a 31% decline compared to the same point in 2025 and a 71% reduction compared to 2022, when New Orleans registered one of the highest murder rates in the nation. District Attorney Jason Williams announced in January that the city had reached its lowest annual homicide rate in 50 years, following three consecutive years of sustained declines, and credited enhanced evidence gathering and specialized trial units for driving up conviction rates.
That progress sits alongside a more complicated legal legacy in Orleans Parish. A ProPublica report published this month found the parish holds the highest rate of wrongful conviction exonerations among U.S. counties with more than 300,000 residents, according to ProPublica. The outlet notes Louisiana established a state compensation fund in 2005 to help exonerees navigate post-conviction relief.
These two verdicts follow a string of homicide prosecutions Hoodline has tracked across the parish this year, including a murder and hit-run conviction in July and a manslaughter conviction tied to a French Quarter shooting in May. Hunter's sentencing is scheduled for September 10, when the mandatory life term will be formally imposed.
