NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- A woman accused of giving her teenage son a handgun and telling him to take revenge after he lost a fight was arrested Thursday after another teen was killed, police said.
Police were searching for her son, Clarence Johnson, 17, who faces a charge of second-degree murder in the death of the other 17-year-old, New Orleans police Sgt. Joe Narcisse said.
He said both teens had walked away after the original fight Wednesday evening. (Watch officer talk about the caseVideo)
"Detectives learned Johnson went home and shared the details of the fight with his mother. Johnson's mother, 44-year-old Vanessa Johnson, gave him a handgun and instructed him to exact revenge on the victim because Johnson had apparently lost the fight," Narcisse said.
Clarence Johnson found the other youth shortly afterward and fired several rounds, hitting him once in the abdomen, Narcisse said. The other teen died at the city's trauma center.
Vanessa Johnson was charged with being a principal to second-degree murder.
Last month, city officials announced efforts to try to curb the violence in New Orleans after nine killings in the first eight days of the year. They increased patrols, set up early morning checkpoints and rushed homicide cases through the court system. National Guard troops and State Police also remain in the city after being called in last summer to help local police combat a spike in violence.
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