Two years after a 20-year-old music engineer was shot to death as he got out of his car at a Brother’s Food Mart in Harvey, the suspected killer in the case has pleaded guilty, Jefferson Parish Court records show.
Kentrell Perkins, 21, of Marrero, was sentenced Tuesday to a total of 65 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter and obstruction of justice in connection with the death of Parnell Doris III. He is the second defendant to be convicted in the case.
Perkins’ girlfriend, 23-year-old Ayanna Sims, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in August 2022 and received three years’ probation after admitting to helping Perkins after the murder, authorities said.
Kentrell Perkins (left) and Ayanna Sims were arrested in connection with the shooting of Parnell Doris III.
Doris was shot and killed outside a Brother’s store in the 3600 block of Lapalco Boulevard on the evening of Jan. 13, 2022, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said.
Perkins and Sims drove to the store in the back seat of a car with two others and were seen on surveillance cameras entering the store to make purchases, the sheriff’s office said.
According to authorities, Perkins looked at the camera at one point and smiled.
The couple returned to the car, which was still parked in front of the house, when Doris pulled his vehicle into the nearest parking lot, the sheriff’s office said.
When Doris opened the driver’s door and got out, he was immediately hit by gunfire, authorities said. According to the sheriff’s office, there was no prior interaction with the neighboring vehicle and no warning of what was about to happen.
Doris suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the sheriff’s office, detectives reviewed surveillance video and saw muzzle flashes from a gun in the back seat of the car where Perkins and Sims were sitting.
Investigators tracked down the vehicle that left the scene before police arrived. Perkins was identified as the shooter, the sheriff’s office said.
Six days later, the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Perkins and Sims in New Orleans on charges of obstruction of justice. Perkins was accused of disposing of the gun used to shoot Doris.
Sims was accused of talking to Perkins about how to get rid of the gun and helping him change his appearance by cutting his hair, authorities said.
A Jefferson Parish grand jury indicted Perkins on a charge of second-degree murder, which carries a life sentence, and his trial was set to begin Tuesday when he agreed to plead guilty to lesser manslaughter, court records say.
Judge Stephen Enright Jr. imposed the maximum sentence for manslaughter, a 40-year prison term. However, he ordered that Perkins’ sentence for obstruction of justice be served after the manslaughter, which would amount to an additional 25 years in prison, court records say.
