LEONARD GRAY

HAHNVILLE – Three men were indicted by a St. Charles Parish grand jury Thursday in connection with the murder of a Metairie teen-ager whose body was found in a concrete pit in the Bonnet Carre Spillway March 13. Kim McElwee, assistant district attorney for the 29th Judicial District, said the state will seek the death penalty against Michael Fasola, 18, of Kenner. His arraignment is scheduled Tuesday at 10 a.m. before 29th Judicial District Judge Kirk Granier. Fasola is charged with the first-degree murder of Jon Springman, 16, who was shot in the back of the head by a .38-caliber revolver while the pair, along with another teen-ager, were shooting guns in the spillway in September 1999. McElwee said according to Fasola’s statement Springman was sitting on a concrete piling, bent over slightly and smoking when Fasola shot him from behind. “He never knew what hit him,” she said. Afterward, Fasola claimed, he and the other man dumped the body in the hole where it was found nearly two years later, along with the rocks stained with Springman’s blood. “He almost got away with it,” McElwee said. The other teen-ager present, Larry Cochran, 18, of Metairie, was charged with being an accessory after the fact to second-degree murder. McElwee said although he was present there are conflicting statements as to whether he knew the murder was going to take place. She added his charge will be amended to accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. The grand jury also indicted Jason Delorimier, 19, with obstruction of justice and accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. Delorimier was not present at the shooting but was a roommate of Fasola and Springman, and is believed to have helped Fasola get away with the crime, according to McElwee. Robbery is a possible motive, McElwee said. After the shooting, Cochran returned Springman’s empty wallet to the victim’s mother, Carolyn, while appearing shaken during the visit. Fasola and Delorimier headed to Arkansas where, 11 days after Springman’s death, they were arrested on a drug charge. In that incident Delorimier pointed a gun at a state trooper while allegedly hallucinating the trooper was a bear. The pair had been smoking marijuana laced with crystal meth. “It was bizarre,” McElwee added. Delorimier, if convicted, could face up to 40 years in prison. Cochran, who was a juvenile at the time, could be imprisoned until he is 21 years old, McElwee said.