SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that a federal grand jury in Shreveport returned a three-count indictment on December 18, 2019, charging Michael Jarred Gentry, 32, of Shreveport, with second degree murder, felon in possession of a firearm, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, resulting in death. Local authorities arrested Gentry on June 22, 2019, in connection with the death of Antonio Williams, a U.S. Postal Service Letter Carrier. Gentry has been in custody since his arrest.
According to the indictment, Gentry shot and killed Antonio Williams on the morning of June 22, 2019, while Mr. Williams was working his mail delivery route on Dudley Drive in Shreveport. The indictment further charges that Gentry was a felon at the time he possessed the Romarm/Cugir WASR-10 and ammunition used in furtherance of the second degree murder charge. Gentry is a convicted felon and under federal law, it is illegal for him to possess a firearm or ammunition.
Michael Gentry is scheduled to be arraigned on January 9, 2020, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark L. Hornsby. If convicted, Michael Jarred Gentry faces up to life in prison for the second degree murder charge, 10 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, and 10 years in prison for discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Shreveport Police Department, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated the case. U.S. Attorney David C. Joseph and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown are prosecuting the case. The Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office also has pending homicide charges against Gentry and is working collaboratively with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the prosecution of this matter.
An indictment is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
