It took a Caddo Parish jury just two hours to find a Shreveport man guilty Thursday, July 27, 2017, of an attempted second-degree murder in January 2016.
The nine-woman, three-man jury in District Judge Katherine Dorroh’s courtroom determined that Willie Dewayne Lynn, 31, beat a man who tried to stop Lynn from attacking his girlfriend during a party late Jan. 24, 2016. The victim, Dave Delaney of Bossier City, a guest at the party, had his skull crushed with a three-foot metal pipe, losing parts of his skull and now is paralyzed, blind in his left eye and unable to use his left arm. Surgeons had to affix a prosthetic cap to his skull to replace missing pieces of his cranium.
Jury selection, opening statements and testimony by three witnesses kicked off the trial Tuesday, with nine witnesses presented Wednesday, finishing with two final witnesses and closing arguments Thursday, followed by the jury charge and retirement.
Lynn has prior misdemeanor convictions for simple battery (2011), illegal possession of stolen things (also 2011) and theft (2013).
Lynn will return to court August 9, 2017, to be sentenced. He faces at least 10 and up to 50 years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.
Prosecutors were assistant district attorneys Jason Waltman and Treneisha Hill. Lynn was defended by Edward Mouton and Alan Golden.