Marquel Horton (via opcso.org)
Andre A. Bell (via opcso.org)
Investigators have identified and arrested two men they believe are responsible for a shooting earlier this month on Felicity Street in the Lower Garden District, but the victims’ reluctance to cooperate makes it unlikely the charges will be prosecuted, police said.
After an argument broke out at a club on Tchoupitoulas the night of Sept. 8, two people left and went to a residence in the 600 block of Felicity, police said. Shortly thereafter, a silver Ford SUV pulled up and two men got out and began shooting, hitting both people and then driving off, police said.
Detectives identified the shooters as 23-year-old Andre Bell and 27-year-old Marquel Horton, and Bell turned himself in Sept. 14 on charges of aggravated battery and possession of a firearm by a felon, police said. Horton remained at large for nearly another week, until jail records show he was booked Monday afternoon on two counts of aggravated battery.
The victims in the case, however, have refused to cooperate with police, insisting that they will not go to court — most likely out of a fear of retaliation from Bell and Horton, who each have records of gun and drug charges and have been involved in numerous shootings in the past, said Sixth District Commander Bob Bardy.
