[StBernard] St. Bernard man convicted of killing stepdaughter

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard man convicted of killing stepdaughter



by WWLTV.com

wwltv.com

Posted on January 14, 2011 at 4:54 PM

Updated yesterday at 5:13 PM



CHALMETTE, La. - A Chalmette jury convicted a man Friday of killing his
adopted stepdaughter, after his wife, who was also an alleged victim in the
shooting, testified against him in the trial.

The jury unanimously reached a first-degree murder verdict for 52-year-old
Charles Richardson. He faces life in prison without the possibility of
parole.

According to court documents, Richardson shot and killed 18-year-old India
Mahoney, a Warren Easton honors student, on January 13, 2009. Richardson
also allegedly shot his wife in the face, forcing her to undergo six face
surgeries during her recovery.

"I had to get better,'' said Beth Mahoney, India's adopted mother since
1990, in her testimony. "Nobody else could talk for her."

Charges of attempted murder of the wife are pending.

The killing is the last murder to take place in St. Bernard Parish,
Cannizaro said.

Steve Cannizaro, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, said India Mahoney
had reported violent behavior from Richardson months before the shooting. In
August 2008, she reported he was "acting erratically, swinging a baseball
bat in the front yard and saying someone was under the house," according to
a police report of the incident. She also reported on more than one occasion
before the shooting that Richardson pulled a gun on her.

He was awaiting prosecution on cocaine and weapon charges at the time of the
shooting, Cannizaro said.

India Mahoney had a 3.6 GPA at Warren Easton and was a member of the
volleyball and softball teams. She was planning to study engineering at
Southern University, according to her family.