A New Orleans man is headed to prison for three decades after admitting he killed a father of two during a 2023 robbery that prosecutors say was all about a wallet. Investigators say he left behind one crucial clue at the scene: an iPhone that led police straight to him.
Jose Gamboa-Escobar pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Tuesday and accepted a 30-year sentence in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, according to NOLA. During the hearing, Judge Leon Roche spoke directly to the victim’s widow and their twin daughters, who wrote that the killing had “ripped apart their loving family,” the outlet reports. Prosecutors told the court they had reduced a second-degree murder charge to manslaughter in order to secure the plea, and the judge said Gamboa-Escobar will be deported after serving his time.
The shooting and the victim
The victim, 35-year-old Melvin Alberto Rodriguez Manueles, was found shot near his car on the 2600 block of First Street in Central City on Nov. 5, 2023, and was later pronounced dead, police said. WVUE first reported the early-morning killing, and obituary records list him as a father of two. In court filings and statements, family members and neighbors described him as a hardworking, humble man whose death upended their household.
Phone left behind led to arrest
Investigators say Gamboa-Escobar grabbed Rodriguez Manueles’ wallet during an attempted robbery. When the victim resisted, he was shot, and the wallet was never recovered, according to authorities. Police say an iPhone discovered on the driver’s seat of the car was traced back to Gamboa-Escobar, a digital breadcrumb that led to his arrest and ultimately to his guilty plea, as reported by The Washington Post.
Legal note…