District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office secured conviction Thursday (Feb. 7) in a split verdict for a man accused in a fatal 2015 double shooting in the St. Claude neighborhood.

After six hours of deliberation, an Orleans Parish jury found Dwight Harvey guilty as charged of obstructing justice in a homicide investigation. The jury found Harvey not guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Aaron Martin, and guilty of aggravated
battery instead of attempted second-degree murder in the shooting of another victim at the same scene.

Harvey, 38, faces a prison term ranging from 10 to 40 years when Criminal District Judge Darryl Derbigny imposes his sentence on April 12.

Harvey was identified by the surviving victim as the known gunman who shot both victims inside a house in the 1600 block of Montegut Street in the Upper 9th Ward. The survivor of the double shooting was brought to testify under Department of Corrections custody, as he is serving a 10-year sentence for felony theft. But he told jurors he awoke to see Harvey firing at Martin, before turning the gun on him.

The shootings occured around 12:40 a.m. on Jan. 18, 2015. Harvey was arrested four days later by U.S. Marshals, after fleeing to Avoyelles Parish.

Assistant District Attorneys Sarah Dawkins and Daniel Smart prosecuted the case.

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