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A savage parolee who killed a mother of two and the relative of a local judge by blasting her 19 times with a Glock will spend “the rest of his natural life” in prison, a New Orleans judge ruled Friday.
Felon Kelvin Atkins, 39, was sentenced by Judge Calvin Johnson after a jury found him guilty of shooting former beau Johnshane “Nay” Powell, 33, on a Louisiana street in July 3, 2023, NOLA.com reported.
“Here we are again looking failure in the face, looking you in the face,” Johnson told Atkins at his sentencing.
Atkins had been arrested two days before the slaying on domestic-abuse charges, prosecutors said.
Powell had contacted police at the time and alleged Atkins slapped her, pulled her hair and bit her, then stole a gun from her purse, according to authorities.
But the parolee, on release for a separate felony at the time, managed to walk back on to the streets after posting bail, much to Powell’s concern, authorities said.
“What happens if y’all let him go and I end up dead tomorrow,” the mother of two daughters asked cops in the days before her killing, according to prosecutors.
Authorities said Atkins returned to kill Powell, unloading the bevy of rounds from a Glock pistol with a drum magazine.
Atkins was afraid she would testify against him for the alleged domestic abuse, which would carry a heavier sentence given his prior conviction, prosecutors said.
As Powell lay dying after the shooting, she was still able to identify her killer as “K”, according to body-cam footage, which prosecutors said was a nickname abbreviating Atkins’ first name.
The killer’s conviction came after an earlier trial ended in a deadlock, with the jury finding him guilty of two other charges but not Powell’s death.
Atkins’ weeklong retrial saw testimony from Criminal District Judge Kimya Holmes, who was Powell’s aunt.
The judge testified that she had to tell Powell’s two daughters about their mother’s death, saying that nothing “can prepare you for that.”
“She loved hard, and if she cared about you, she protected you with all that she had,” Holmes told the court, referring to her tragic niece.
Atkins was found guilty of second-degree murder in September and hit with the life sentence, which carries with it no parole eligibility.
