Group holds candlelight vigil as deadline looms for indicting teen’s shooter

By Michael Patrick Welch
Contributing Writer

On July 26, Marshall Coulter went over a six-foot fence and onto private residential property in Marigny around 2 a.m. with either the confidence of an armed man, or the naiveté of a child. It turned out the 14-year-old was not armed when property owner Merritt Landry, a City Hall employee, shot him in the head, ostensibly to protect his pregnant wife and toddler inside the house.

Since then, crowds have gathered to protest outside of the Orleans Parish D.A.’s office, as well as Landry’s home, shouting and pushing and shoving, either defending or demonizing the shooter. After Landry was arrested and set loose on bond, the New Orleans’ D.A. was given 150 days, until December 23, to decide whether or not to indict him on attempted second-degree murder charges. That deadline now looms less than 20 days away. After that, Landry would have to be re-arrested and the process begun anew.

In a small half-shotgun a few doors down from the Coulter family residence, the House of Faith Non Denominational Ministries on Elysian Fields hosted a candlelight vigil for Marshall Coulter Tuesday night, December 3. A small but very animated crowd chanted “Justice for Marshall!” in hopes the D.A.’s office will indict Landry before the deadline expires.

The severely brain-damaged teen, Marshall Coulter, did not attend the vigil, and House of Faith’s leader Prophetess Christiana Ford claims the family’s lawyer suggested none of them make any public statements or appearances. Ford, who has known the Coulters for decades, said that on Tuesday young Marshall began several days of brain surgery to insert a metal plate in his cranium. “His mobility is severely limited and he drools a lot,” said Ford, “We pray that God will restore life back to him.”

The vigil’s organizer Mike Howells, founder of Justice For Marshall Coulter and a representative from the Louisiana Ecosocialists, repeated several times throughout the event, “Marshall was 30 feet away and had no weapons. He represented no fatal threat to Landry. Force should never be used to protect property. So, where is the attempted-second-degree murder charge? If the D.A. does not indict, they are effectively telling our young people that their lives mean nothing — especially if they are poor.”

With so many, and so many particularly gruesome, acts of violence in this city, especially around the neighborhood where Coulter was shot, it has been easy for local message board commenters to understand why Landry might fatally overreact on behalf of his family. Howells though, says he’s worried about the general American trend toward vigilantism, whether it’s homeowners like Landry, or gang-bangers avenging murdered brethren.“If there is a threat outside, you don’t go out to meet it,” Howells said while describing a recent attempted break-in at his own house: “A guy was running from the law, and when I heard him outside I locked the doors and called the police.”

Assistant District Attorney Christopher Bowman, a prosecutor for the D.A.’s office, declined to comment on the open case against Landry, but did say, “We are presently screening the case but there’s just a lot of passion on both sides of this issue, and we want to be sure we’re as thorough as possible. Since Cannizzaro’s been D.A. we have never [let the clock run down on a case]. So I urge folks to keep their powder kegs dry and let us deliberate.”

Café Flora in Marigny (2600 Royal St.) will host a joint meeting of the Justice For Marshall Coulter movement and the Louisiana Ecosocialists at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, December 9.

This article originally published in the December 9, 2013 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.