NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — “Being without Greg and Darnisha has taken away a lot from us,” that’s what Gregory Heisser’s mother, Lurline La Beaud Duncan said.

He and his fiance Darnisha Desilva were gunned down in a home in Little Woods back in 2018.

Their accused killer, Kenneth Augustine, turned himself in and was charged with two counts of second-degree murder. Last fall, just a week before Augustine’s trial was set to begin, there was a surprise in the case.

“He decided to say he was incompetent so that’s where we are now,” said Heisser’s mother. “So he’s going through this competency evaluation and he was sent off.”

The hardest thing Gregory’s mother has ever gone through now extended by the process. The emotions hitting her one by one.

“Kenneth took my first true love from me,” she said.

If convicted, Augustine could face a life sentence. WGNO legal analyst Cliff Cardone says if he never regains competency there may never be a trial.

“The individual could stay incarcerated in a forensic unit for the maximum sentence,” said Cardone.

On Monday, one of the four teenagers accused in the fatal carjacking of Linda Frickey was deemed incompetent to stand trial and suffering with depression.

“We’re depressed for a different reason than she’s depressed, and we’re not considering ourselves incompetent. We’re competent; we’re coming to court. We want justice,” said Frickey’s sister Jinny Lynn Griffin.

Heisser’s mother agrees with that sentiment.

“I just feel it’s unfair to victims such as myself,” she said.

Heisser’s mother says she’d like to see Kenneth Augustine behind bars for the rest of his life, but until a court says he’s mentally competent a new trial date will not be set.

Latest Stories