Witnesses said at the time that a festive scene was turned to one of bedlam and carnage as bystanders sought to give first aid to those struck. The two died not far from where the Endymion parade - an annual spectacle of huge, brightly lit floats and marching bands - had just passed. The two killed were Sharree Walls, 27, of New Orleans and David Hynes, 31, a Seattle man and Tulane Law School graduate who was visiting during Mardi Gras. He ran away but was followed and held by witnesses until police arrived, according to court records. Authorities said he sideswiped other cars and eventually collided with another vehicle before coming to a stop in the median. 21 percent as he sped down New Orleans’ prominent Esplanade Avenue, which was bustling with auto, bicycle and pedestrian traffic after the popular parade of the Krewe of Endymion.ĭriving at speeds reaching 80 mph (nearly 130 kph), Toney veered at times into the bicycle lane, sendingbicycles and their riders flying, court records show. The ruling, dated Wednesday, sent the case back to the criminal court in New Orleans for what the panel requested to be a “meaningful sentencing hearing.”īlood tests showed Toney was driving with a blood-alcohol level above. Therefore, the ruling said, appellate judges could not adequately review Toney’s argument that the total sentence was excessive.

The state 4th Circuit Court of Appeal said the judge who sentenced Tashonty Toney failed to sufficiently spell out the reasons for handing out the maximum sentences following Toney’s guilty plea. NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A Louisiana appeals court has thrown out the 90-year prison sentence for a drunken driver who struck nine bicycle riders near a Mardi Gras parade route in March 2019, killing two of them.

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