FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Angie Man Faces Mandatory Life Sentence in Violent Crime Spree Following Guilty Verdicts by Washington Parish Jury
July 2, 2024
District Attorney Collin Sims reports that on June 28, 2024, a Washington Parish jury deliberated for 27 minutes before returning a series of guilty verdicts against 21-year-old Andrew Pernell of Angie relating to his violent crime spree in 2021. Pernell was convicted of Second degree murder, Attempted second degree murder, Conspiracy to commit second degree murder and Assault by drive-by shooting. Assistant District Attorneys Tiffany Dover and Elizabeth Authement meticulously pieced together the compelling evidence during the trial, over which Judge Ellen Creel presided. The Bogalusa Police Department and the Louisiana State Police jointly investigated these crimes. Lt. Casey Hidalgo headed the investigation for Bogalusa PD and Investigator Stefan Montgomery spearheaded LSP’s investigative efforts.
Prosecutors called more than 27 witnesses to the stand during the five-day trial. Testimony established that on August 23, 2021, Pernell and two other perpetrators gunned down Bogalusa High School senior Aaron Brown as he walked home from school. Officers with Bogalusa Police responded to multiple 911 callers reporting gunfire in the area of Hickory Avenue and Dan Street. They found Brown face down in the street near Juliette’s Beauty Supply on Hickory Avenue. Brown had suffered numerous gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Eleven 5.56 caliber spent cartridges and two 9mm spent cartridges were located in the vicinity of Brown’s body.
During the evening of September 15, 2021, just weeks after killing Brown, Pernell drove down Main Street in Bogalusa and paused to pull out an AK-47 and fire at least 18 shots at a residence occupied by several adults and young children. Many of the projectiles struck the residence but, luckily, no one was injured.
On the afternoon of September 20, 2021, Pernell concluded his crime spree by shooting a 13-year-old boy just after the boy had stepped off a school bus on Main Street in Bogalusa. After firing off nine shots, Pernell attempted to flee the area but wrecked his vehicle several blocks away. Bogalusa police officers rushed to the scene and were able to quickly apprehend Pernell. After taking Pernell into custody, officers searched the surrounding area and recovered a 9mm handgun Pernell had discarded in some nearby woods. The young boy, who suffered multiple near-fatal gunshot wounds, was airlifted to a hospital for emergency treatment. Fortunately, the boy’s life was saved but he has had to undergo extensive rehabilitation. He successfully learned how to walk again despite lingering nerve damage to his leg. A ballistics expert confirmed the 9mm handgun found in the woods was the weapon used to shoot the boy. DNA analysis of the weapon revealed the presence of Pernell’s DNA.
During the course of investigating the young boy’s shooting, detectives executed a search warrant on Pernell’s residence. The search led to the recovery of an AK-47 from Pernell’s bedroom. A ballistics expert confirmed it was the weapon Pernell used during the drive-by shooting he committed back on September 15, 2021. Detectives also seized a cellular phone belonging to Pernell. Text messages recovered from the phone revealed how Pernell obtained the AR-15 he used to kill Brown and the AK-47 he used to accomplish the drive-by shooting. He utilized a strawman, Matthew Kennedy, to make the purchases for him so the weapons could not be traced to him. During their exchange of text messages, Pernell told Kennedy he needed the weapons because “I kill ppl”. Other text messages found in Pernell’s phone show him making efforts to sell the AR-15 after he killed Brown. He eventually sold it to an unknown individual for $500 but detectives were able to locate and recover it in Mississippi.
As part of the ongoing investigation of Brown’s murder, detectives also seized a cellular phone belonging to Jayden Brister, whom they had linked to Brown’s murder. Text messages recovered from Brister’s phone showed a steady exchange of messages between Pernell and Brister. On the day of Brown’s murder, the two laid out plans to engage in a shooting once students started walking home from Bogalusa High School after classes ended for the day. Pernell said he had an “AR” and needed “a body”. He went on to say that after he shoots someone with his AR, he intended to throw the weapon away. Brister responded they could catch “a body” walking home from school at around 2:30 pm.
During the trial, Pernell was seen making obscene gestures toward a juvenile witness present in the courtroom. When another witness was testifying, Pernell formed his hand into the shape of a gun. In closing arguments to the jury at the conclusion of the trial, ADA Tiffany Dover lamented “Kids deserve to be able to go to and from school without worrying about being executed.”
Upon hearing the jury’s guilty verdicts read aloud, Pernell responded by laughing. He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison when Judge Creel sentences him, presently scheduled for September 5, 2024.