The parents of teens who murdered a woman during a deadly New Orleans carjacking are now facing the fury of her widowed husband, who is suing those parents over damages for his wife’s horrific death, the loss of income stemming from it, and his emotional distress.
As background, Linda Frickey was slain by four carjackers who dragged her, after she became trapped in her seatbelt, behind her car as they sped away in the stolen vehicle until one of her arms was severed. She died from the trauma shortly afterward, and the absolutely horrific nature of her killing shocked the nation.
The prosecutor, describing the horrific nature of the crime, said, “The defendant, after pepper spraying her, grabs her, pulls her out of her car, puts heel to her face, stomps her on the head, gets on top, punches her, gets into the driver seat and you will see decisions made that ended Frickey’s life.” The prosecutor continued, “She was screaming and pleading for him to stop. [The defendant] dragged her over 700 feet – or two football fields.”
The perpetrators faced a lesser degree of justice than many thought the situation required, with the 18-year-old man involved being convicted of second-degree murder, and the three teen girls involved, aged 15 to 17, only pleading guilty to manslaughter.
The 18-year-old, John Honore, was finally convicted at the end of November 2023, and his was the last conviction. He has not yet been sentenced, but faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced in January. The three teen girls, Briniyah Baker, Lenyra Theophile and Mar’Qel Curtis, pleaded guilty in late November as well and and were sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Now, Mr. Rickey Frickey, the widowed husband of the murdered woman, delayed his suit until the criminal cases were concluded and is now, with those wrapped up, suing the parents of the four individuals involved for $50,000 over his damages from Ms. Frickey’s murder. According to his sister, Kathy Richard, he plans to file the civil lawsuit not so much for the money but because he thinks parents need to be accountable if they raise their kids so poorly.
Richard, speaking on the matter, said that Mr. Frickey intends to show that parents have accountability for what their kids do and to “bring awareness to the public that if your children commit crimes, you are liable,” something that would expand the avenues victims have to go after the wrongdoers.
In New Orleans, carjackings were down but auto thefts were up as of June of 2023, with NOLA.com reporting that reported carjacking were significantly lower in 2023 after surging massively in 2021 and 2022, down 42% as of May 31 of 2023. By that time, “only” 108 had occurred as opposed to 185 in the same time period in 2022. However, that decrease in carjackings came alongside a massive rise in auto thefts, which are up 163% in 2023. They rose from 1,314 in 2022 to 3,459 in 2023.
