New Orleans police say a 29-year-old man died after falling into a canal near Irish Bayou in New Orleans East.
Officer Garry Flot, a police spokesman, says the body of Harold Johnson of New Orleans was found Sunday afternoon, near the spot where he fell in earlier that day.
Flot says said the death will be listed as unclassified until an autopsy.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Louisiana House has agreed to rewrite the state's constitutional protections for weapon owners, striking a provision that gives the Legislature explicit authority to limit concealed handguns. Critics say the plan could lead to the nullification of most of Louisiana's gun limits.
GRETNA, La. (AP) — The brother of imprisoned former Congressman Bill Jefferson has surrendered in Jefferson Parish. Authorities say Archie Jefferson was wanted for misapplication of funds and theft for renovation work conducted at a Marrero home.
The city’s death toll has fallen dramatically over the past year, even as the number of other violent crimes has skyrocketed, according to statistics just released by the New Orleans Police Department.
The total number of murders in the first three months of the year dropped sharply, from 62 in 2011 to 45 this year, a decline of over 27 percent. The burglary rate slid over 16 percent during the same period.
The sister-in-law of former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson has died after suffering a severe head injury at her home.
John Gagliano, investigator for the Orleans Parish Coroner's Office, says Sandra Peters Jefferson died early Saturday at the Interim LSU Public Hospital. She was hospitalized there Friday with an unspecified head trauma.
