(NewsNation) — A month after a maintenance man was shot to death in the driveway of a suburban New Orleans home, police testified in court about a potential racial component in the shooting.
Maurice Holmes, 25, and Tahj Matthews, 23, two Black men, have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Lawrence Herr, a white man who was shot April 10 while installing a mailbox at a home in Kenner, Louisiana.
The 66-year-old was taken to a hospital, where he died.
A Kenner Police Department detective testified during a court hearing May 9 that one of the suspects admitted to his role in the shooting, explaining that he wanted to “kill a white guy,” WVUE-TV reported.
The detective, Nicolas Engler, said at the hearing Holmes and Matthews were seen on surveillance video at an apartment complex two hours before the killing, WVUE reported. The video, according to Engler, shows Holmes passing a weapon to Matthews.
Engler told the court that both men worked at IHOP, and Matthews presented a doctor’s note on the morning of the shooting saying he was sick and was allowed to leave.
Police said they used license plate reader technology to track down the car seen on video in the drive-by shooting, NewsNation affiliate WGNO-TV reported. Officers report the vehicle passed the home three times before stopping and shooting Herr.
At the court hearing, Engler testified Matthews confessed to stashing the gun in an attic at his home, WWL-TV reported. A gun was recovered during a search of the property.
A judge denied a defense request for bond for both men, who remain jailed at Jefferson Parish Correctional Center.
NewsNation affiliate WGNO-TV contributed to this report.