COVINGTON— Sixteen-year-old Eduardo Morales pled guilty Wednesday (May 6) to second-degree murder in the death of a 28-year-old man, who was gunned down during a pre-dawn argument that involved several men in a Slidell neighborhood in August 2013.
Morales was charged as an adult and faces an automatic sentence of life in prison for the shooting, which resulted in the death of Clarence Adams of Slidell. Because of Morales’s age, he can be considered for parole after serving 35 years.
A co-defendant, Daquan Ratliff, 20, pled guilty Monday to accessory after the fact for fleeing the scene with the weapon. He faces a five-year suspended sentence with five years of probation. A third defendant, Raheem Jamal Willis, still faces a second-degree murder charge and two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm.
The murder occurred just before 3 a.m. on Aug. 18 at Walnut and Beechwood Streets in Slidell, after a dispute in a neighborhood bar spilled into the streets. Willis fired a rifle in the direction of Adams but put the weapon down to engage in a fistfight. Morales then picked up the rifle and fired it. Adams was struck four times—once in his left arm, two in his left abdomen, and once in the head. Ratliff, Willis, and Morales then fled the scene.
Assistant District Attorneys Louis Butler and Joey Oubre handled the case, which was investigated by the Slidell Police Department. Judge Peter J. Garcia accepted the plea agreements.