BATON ROUGE — A 22-year-old Baton Rouge man accused in the killing of a 69-year-old was found not guilty Monday after a multi-day trial in which one eyewitness testified. Tony Lanus was ultimately acquitted in the murder of Eishmel Spears Jr., who was killed on the 9900 block Merganzer Avenue in June of 2023.
Lanus had been charged with second-degree murder and illegal use of weapons.
Lanus’ cousin, Delmonte “Fatman Aites, was the only eyewitness to testify during the case. According to an arrest report, Delmonte said he was driving while Lanus was in the passenger seat. He claims Lanus said he “wanted to try out his gun and kill someone.”
As the pair drove down Merganzer Ave., Aites claims Lanus rolled the window down and fired multiple shots toward Spears’ vehicle, which was parked on the shoulder of the road.
Spears was found deceased from gunshot wounds in the driver’s seat of his Chevrolet Silverado by Baton Rouge Police. The arrest report states Spears had dropped a friend off at a nearby home and was sitting in his vehicle when shots were fired at him.
The police report states that “gunshots were fired in rapid succession.”
“The state presented both circumstantial and direct evidence. The strength of the case relied heavily on the only eyewitness who testified that this defendant shot and killed the victim. Unfortunately, for our victim and his family, the jury obviously found that the state did not meet its burden as proof beyond a reasonable doubt. We respect their decision,” District Attorney Hillar Moore said in a statement following the trial.
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