NEW ORLEANS (AP) 鈥 Authorities have dropped charges against a suspect in the 2016 cold case slaying of a 25-year-old Tulane University graduate who was visiting New Orleans to plan his wedding.
鈥淪erious issues鈥 with a critical witness's availability arose and led the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office to ask on Tuesday that charges be dismissed against Ernest Weatherspoon, the DA said, without elaborating, in a news release.
Thomas Rolfes, of St. Louis, had come back to the city on a Mother鈥檚 Day weekend to meet with his fianc茅e and scout wedding venues. He was found May 7, 2016, shot to death at an intersection after leaving a bar.
Weatherspoon, 46, in December 2021 by a special grand jury on one count each of armed robbery and second-degree murder.
District Attorney Jason Williams said his office has been in close contact with Rolfes鈥 family, who agreed that dismissal was the best course of action at this time.
鈥淥ur office is committed to exhausting all avenues to ensure justice for Mr. Rolfes and this family, who have endured a tremendous loss,鈥 Williams said in the news release.
Weatherspoon had been in jail since his arrest.
John Fuller, Weatherspoon鈥檚 defense attorney, told that prosecutors earlier this month offered his client a plea deal that would have handed him a guaranteed 10-year-prison sentence. Weatherspoon declined, and was scheduled to go to trial on Tuesday.
Fuller said Weatherspoon was 鈥渆cstatic鈥 at the news that charges had been dismissed.
鈥淗e鈥檒l be going home for Mother鈥檚 Day,鈥 Fuller said, 鈥渨hich was always our goal.鈥
