NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – A mother of four accused of killing another mother of four in the early morning hours of Sept. 1 was arrested last year and charged with a separate murder, but Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams dismissed the original charges.
Chante Mark, 24, was found hiding in a Chalmette hotel and arrested for the murder of 29-year-old mother of four Raven Francis outside the Shamrock Bar and Grill in Mid-City.
Mark was extradited to Orleans Parish and arraigned on second-degree murder charges in district court Thursday afternoon.
The Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office was not present at the arraignment, but Mark’s public defender said she is also a mother of four and works as a nurse at a local hospital caring for her children, ages three to seven.
Commissioner Jay Daniels set bail at $1 million.
But Thursday was not the first time Mark appeared before a magistrate accused of murder in New Orleans.
SIMILAR ARTICLES
Arrest after fatal shooting outside Shamrock Bar and Grill
Woman killed in Mid-City shooting over weekend identified as mother of four
Mourning for murdered mother Raven Francis at vigil as Mid-City bar security scrutinized
Last May, she and another man were arrested for allegedly killing 19-year-old Darron Meilleur in the 8700 block of Almonaster Avenue in March 2023.
Williams’ office, however, rejected the charges.
“Our office has thoroughly reviewed the entire NOPD homicide file. While there was some evidence that Marks may have been in the same vehicle as the victim on the morning of the murder, there was not enough evidence to prove that she was involved in any way in the shooting of Darron Meilleur,” an OPDA spokesperson said in a statement.
“The investigation has not uncovered any eyewitnesses to the crime,” the statement continued. “In addition, investigators have been unable to find any physical evidence, forensic evidence, or video evidence of who the actual perpetrator was, nor have they been able to determine the exact time of the murder. Law enforcement requires evidence beyond reasonable, far more than probable cause to proceed.”
Fox 8 legal expert Joe Raspanti said there could be a number of reasons why the OPDA rejected the Meilleur case, but ultimately prosecutors need to be confident that the evidence they have collected will hold up before a grand jury.
“This happens all the time. The prosecutor reviews the cases and accepts 50, 60, 70 percent or whatever,” Raspanti said. “You have to decide if you have enough credible and provable evidence to support your case.”
Fox 8 now has new court documents that shed light on the moments that led to the fight and ultimately the shooting of Francis.
In their arrest warrant, investigators said they obtained several different video recordings of the fight, which took place outside Shamrock shortly before 3 a.m.
The video also shows Mark leaving the commotion, running back to a car and returning with a gun, investigators said.
According to investigators, Mark used the weapon to beat a known victim.
The document states that investigators relied on witness statements and believed that Mark called two men in a black SUV to the parking lot, which was seen on surveillance video.
Shortly after the fight, Mark circles the parking lot in her white Nissan Altima together with the black SUV.
At some point, investigators write, Mark and the two men got into the black SUV, which then followed Francis, her sisters and friends as they left the parking lot in a car.
Then the SUV opens fire, hitting and killing Francis.
Do you see a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Click here to report it. Please include the headline.
Subscribe to Fox 8 YouTube channel.
All rights reserved.
