Jury deliberates in Cache Shelton murder trial after 4 days of testimony in New Orleans

追加: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]While the fate of Kasha Shelton is in hand in the hands of the jury, they have deliberated for 2 hours now after 4 days of testimony. Now, the question they're faced with, did Shelton kill her boyfriend Nicholas Harrison or did he shoot himself inside of a warehouse district hotel room 3 and 1/2 years ago?

[00:00:15]Jurors began deliberating after they heard testimony from NOPD detectives, expert witnesses, and the defendant herself, a rare move in a murder trial.

[00:00:23]Now, this case was reopened after Chief Investigative Reporter David Hammer began to ask questions. He joins us now live from the criminal courthouse, and David, this has been a heated and emotional trial. What has happened today, and what is going on right now inside of the courthouse?

[00:00:40]Well, Charissa, a lot has happened today. The jury got this case about 3:30 p.m., and they've got a lot to consider because the defendant Kasha Shelton herself took the stand and testified for about 2 and 1/2 hours over 2 days. The DA, Jason Williams, personally tried this case and aggressively questioned Shelton about her shifting explanations about how her boyfriend of 3 years, Nicholas Harrison, ended up with a single gunshot wound through his forehead in a downtown New Orleans hotel. And there are inconsistencies in her comments, and you heard this in the summary of the closing arguments I can give you now. The prosecution says the scientific evidence about the distance and angle of the gunshot are overwhelming to prove that Shelton shot Harrison. They say that Shelton's been telling three different stories that Nick shot himself, Nick Harrison shot himself, that they tussled and it went off by accident, the gun went off by accident, that uh Harrison, she claims, was beating her with a gun, and then she fought back and it went off. And the prosecution says science says all of that is impossible. Now, the defense says she was consistently hysterical during the questioning of her over the hours after the shooting, that she was drunk from a night out on the town, she was confused, and that she was scared of Harrison, and that's why there were some contradictions in her story. So, let's take a look at what Shelton's defense attorney, Devin Jones, said, "Quote, prosecutors want you to believe she's a criminal mastermind. Nobody treated her like that like she was a criminal that day when they were questioning her." And then, here's what prosecutor Andre Jeanfreau said in his closing rebuttal, "Quote, a criminal mastermind she's not. That's why she's here today. She's here today because she killed Nick Harrison." And a big part of the closings was also that Jones specifically criticized D.A. Jason Williams for reopening this case after we did our investigation and questioned him about the evidence, saying that he succumbed to pressure. And of course, that's putting doubt in the minds of the jurors who have to decide that she did this beyond a reasonable doubt. We'll just continue to monitor that, Sherise.

[00:02:55]And for now, reporting live at Orleans Parish Criminal Court, David Hammer, WWL, Louisiana.