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Friday, September 4, 2026
A federal jury deadlocked Thursday on murder charges against Sean Alfortish and Leon "Chunky" Parker in connection with the September 2020 death of Cornelius Garrison. U.S. District Judge Wendy Vitter declared a mistrial. Garrison had recently agreed to cooperate with prosecutors after pleading guilty to staging accidents involving commercial trucks. Alfortish, a disbarred attorney, was convicted on multiple fraud charges stemming from the elaborate scheme. He was also found guilty on two counts of obstruction and suborning perjury, though acquitted on two similar charges. Co-conspirators Vanessa Motta and Jason Giles were convicted in March and remain jailed pending sentencing. Deliberations lasted more than 30 hours across five days. Federal prosecutors signaled intent to retry Alfortish and Parker on the murder charges.
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