A man who without warning shot the driver of a car in which he was a passenger was convicted by a Caddo Parish jury Friday, November 10, 2017.
The five-man, seven-woman jury in District Judge Katherine Dorroh’s courtroom unanimously determined that Dylan James Magluilo, 30, of Shreveport, shot Mark Anthony Cornett in the back of the head with a 9-mm handgun when Cornett stopped their car on the I-20 westbound exit off-ramp at Monkhouse Drive early September 9, 2015.
The conviction on the charge of second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or reduction of sentence when Magluilo returns to face Judge Dorroh at his next court appearance November 21, 2017.
Jurors, who deliberated only 80 minutes, determined Magluilo and three other people, including the victim, left the Hilton Convention Center parking garage seeking to purchase illegal methamphetamines. The four drove through downtown and drove onto I-20 West, with Cornett driving and Magluilo in the rear driver’s side seat. When Cornett left I-20 at Monkhouse and stopped the car at the red light, Magluilo shot Cornett, killing him instantly. The other two passengers fled and reported the shooting to Shreveport police.
Officers found the gun and a gym bag covered in Cornett’s blood in a construction site adjacent to Monkhouse drive. Although Magluilo denied killing Cornett when interviewed by police, he confessed the killing to two female companions who testified at the trial.
Jury selection was late Tuesday and Wednesday, November 7-8, 2017, with evidence presented late Wednesday through Friday, November 8-10, 2017.
Assistant district attorneys Jason Waltman and Treneisha Hill prosecuted for the state. Magluilo was defended by Zachary Moffett.