Doretha Richardson

Doretha Richardson, an 81-year-old mother and grandmother known for her kind and friendly nature, was a beloved figure in her Bridge City, Louisiana, community. To her family, she was a devout Christian who was deeply devoted to them. Her son, Elsworth Stevenson, remembered her love, a sentiment shattered by the senseless violence that ended her life.

Just before midnight on Friday, February 15, 2013, a barrage of gunfire erupted in the 300 block of 5th Street. Neighbors later recalled the sounds, with some mistaking the rapid succession of shots for fireworks. When Jefferson Parish Sheriff's deputies responded to the calls, they discovered a horrifying scene inside Mrs. Richardson's home. She was lying on her kitchen floor, having been struck by multiple bullets. Investigators determined the assault was relentless, with bullet casings found scattered outside on the street, leading up to her front door and continuing inside the house. Miraculously, three other people inside the home, including Mrs. Richardson's grandson, his girlfriend, and a three-year-old great-granddaughter she was caring for, were physically unharmed. The brutal killing of an elderly woman in her own home sent a wave of shock and grief through the neighborhood. "I hope police can find who did it," her son told reporters. "To shoot an 81-year-old woman down like a dog, I hope they find them."

The investigation by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office initially focused on a family member. Detectives named Mrs. Richardson's grandson, Willis Stevenson, as a person of interest. Authorities revealed that both he and his grandmother were co-defendants in a cocaine distribution case, which suggested a possible, though complicated, motive for the attack. It was believed by investigators that Mrs. Richardson was likely not the intended target of the shooters that night.

The case took a significant turn two months later. On April 16, 2013, detectives arrested a man named Isaac Smith and booked him on one count of second-degree murder in connection with Mrs. Richardson's death. Investigators had been searching for Smith since obtaining a warrant for his arrest. A spokesman for the sheriff's office explained that on the night of the murder, Smith had appeared at a West Bank hospital with a gunshot wound he claimed to have received elsewhere. However, unspecified forensic evidence collected from Mrs. Richardson’s home directly linked Smith to the homicide.

Further investigation revealed that the murder was not an isolated act of violence but was connected to a dangerous criminal enterprise. Federal and state authorities eventually linked Mrs. Richardson’s killing to a violent gang known as the "Harvey Hustlers." In a sweeping racketeering indictment that named dozens of gang members, law enforcement alleged the group was responsible for at least seven murders, drug trafficking, and widespread intimidation on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish. Sheriff Newell Normand described the gang as “one of the most violent, vile criminal organizations that this organization has dealt with.”

The federal indictment specifically charged Isaac Smith, along with fellow gang members Corey "C-Murder" Smoot, Sass "Sass" Hookfin, and Ryan "Wood" Woodruff, with killing Doretha Richardson while in the commission of drug trafficking. The indictment painted a grim picture of a gang that terrorized communities for nearly a decade, distributing cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, and eliminating rivals or anyone who stood in their way. The case against the Harvey Hustlers, built over years by the JPSO and the FBI, brought a measure of clarity to a killing that had left a family and community searching for answers. The charges ensured that Mrs. Richardson would be remembered not only as a victim of a brutal home invasion but also as one of the many lives tragically impacted by the gang's reign of violence.