SAVED BY DNA

An eyewitness and a confession landed 18-year-old Christopher Lindsey behind bars charged with murder and facing life in prison.

But four years later, another man's DNA apparently has set him free.

"I'm still angry," Lindsey of Waggaman said recently, weeks after he left jail. "Four years out of my life for something I didn't do. I could have went to college and everything."

On the eve of his Sept. 21 trial, the Jefferson Parish district attorney's office dismissed a second-degree murder charge against Lindsey, 23, after he spent four years and two months in jail.

He and Cedric Lewis, 28, of Harvey were accused of killing marijuana dealer Trellas Porter, 23, on July 3, 2005, inside the Harvey home of Porter's grandmother.

Porter's girlfriend, Karra Crayton, told police she was waiting outside for Porter to drive her to her New Orleans home when two men approached. One pointed a gun to her head, told her she would die and forced her into the house, according to police reports.

During the scuffle that followed inside, Porter's 81-year-old grandmother, Dorothy Eugene, scratched one of the intruders. Porter was forced into a bedroom, where he was shot. Detectives later found nearly 800 grams of marijuana in his closet, according to police reports.

The case detective, then-Sgt. Don Meunier, ordered a crime scene technician to gather evidence, including material from Eugene's fingernails, in search of DNA that could identify a killer.

Early in the investigation, Lindsey and Lewis emerged as suspects through rumors detectives heard on the streets, according to police reports. With that information, detectives included Lindsey's picture in a photographic lineup of five men and showed the array to Crayton.

She identified Lindsey on July 14, 2005, and he was arrested two days later.

CONTINUED 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 Next