Three New Orleans Teens Discover They Carjacked the Last Person They’d Ever Want to Rob

When three teenagers decided to carjack a Black man and his mother, they probably would've never thought who they were actually committing a crime against. On June 6, Santana Gilmore, Dijohn Curtis, and Amajha Curtis plead guilty (after initially pleading not guilty) to three counts of armed robbery and are being tried as adults for the 2023 incident.

The teenagers held Jason Williams and his then 78-year-old mother, Janice Rogers, at gunpoint outside of his Lower Garden District home in New Orleans on Oct. 16, 2023. Who exactly is Jason Williams? The Orleans Parish District Attorney. Oh, and they also stole the D.A.'s Lincoln Navigator, according to law enforcement authorities. Neither Williams nor his mother was injured.

Moments after they sped off in Williams' SUV, they could only travel less than a mile "because they don’t have the key," Williams told the 911 operator. He had kept his key fob, and his car was later found in the Garden District.

Less than a half hour later on Baronne Street in Central City — less than one mile from Williams’ house — those same teenagers robbed a woman, taking her Honda Civic, Nola.com reported. That vehicle was quickly recovered as well.

The first suspect arrested for their connection with the crimes was Raymond Rochon, who was 18 at the time. He was not charged with the robberies, but instead faced unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and possession of a stolen vehicle charges. Rochon, now 20, pleaded guilty last March. He was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence and three years of active probation.

Police also arrested Ahmad Seals, who was in possession of clothing worn by one of the robbers in surveillance videos, and the Curtis cousins days after the crimes. Seals was 18 years old at the time of his arrest, the Curtis' were both 16, and Gilmore was 15. After Williams' office recused itself from the case, the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office took over, charging the trio as adults. Seals plead not guilty, per local news channel Fox 8.

Their sentencing date is set for October. They face a sentence of 16 years behind bars.