A Harvey man has been convicted of pistol-whipping a Metairie woman during a burglary he plotted of her house.
A Jefferson Parish jury found Antonio Key, 25, guilty on Wednesday of aggravated burglary with a gun for the April 30, 2019, crime. Key had been inside the victim’s house previously, because of his job with an air conditioning company, and used his phone to take photographs of jewelry and other items for the planned break-in, authorities said.
On the night of the crime, Key and his cohorts, Rodgers Hart and Darius Daleo, drove in a borrowed car to the 4600 block of Southshore Drive. Key and Hart, masked, broke in through a back door while Daleo remained with the car, authorities said.
Inside the house, in a bedroom, were a 67-year-old woman and her 38-year-old daughter. The daughter triggered the panic alarm and the mother confronted the burglars but was met with a beating. The burglars left without stealing anything and hopped into the getaway vehicle.
Burglars flee, crash car
Soon, a Louisiana state trooper noticed the car driving without headlights and tried to stop it. The car sped off then crashed, and three men ran away. The trooper found Daleo nearby and arrested him.
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Hart spotted a person making a pizza delivery in the 700 block of Derbigny Street and ordered the driver to help him escape, but the delivery person hopped out of the car and fled. Hart drove away in the the vehicle.
Investigators arrested Hart and Key days later.
Key’s story
Daleo, a 24-year-old Marrero resident, pleaded guilty Nov. 3 to aggravated burglary and was sentenced to eight years in prison. Hart, 26, of Marrero, pleaded guilty Dec. 15 to aggravated burglary, being a convicted felon with a gun and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
At trial, Key asserted he had remained in the car while Daleo and Hart entered the women’s house, but prosecutors said other evidence contradicted him.
The jury deliberated barely two hours before returning with its unanimous verdict, the district attorney’s office said. Judge Adrian Adams of the 24th Judicial District Court is scheduled to sentence Key May 17.
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