In the 24 hours before a prized federal informant , prosecutors say cell tower data and wifi signals show one man on trial for the murder met with the prosecution’s star witness in a New Orleans East parking lot.
One of them visited a Home Depot on South Claiborne Avenue, according to Federal Bureau of Investigation data presented in New Orleans federal court this week. The other bought a burner phone.
An agent from the FBI’s , Blake Downing, presented that data in the ongoing murder-conspiracy trial of Sean Alfortish, the accused mastermind of an insurance scheme hinged on crashing passenger vehicles into big-rigs, and Leon “Chunky” Parker, the alleged triggerman in .
Garrison was a prolific “slammer” who drove passenger vehicles in staged collisions and funneled his riders , an injury attorney engaged to Alfortish. He had cooperated with the feds for a year before he was gunned down in his mother’s entryway in Gentilly on September 22, 2020.
In the trial now entering its third week, prosecutors say , a Garrison protege, enlisted Parker to kill Garrison at Alfortish’s request after Alfortish learned of his cooperation. Harris has . He implicated Alfortish and Parker, both of whom deny a role in the murder, on the witness stand this week.
Much of prosecutors’ case has hinged on Harris’ word, which defense attorneys have sought to undermine in the trial. Lawyers for both defendants argue that Harris pulled the trigger and pinned it on Parker, a years-long family friend.
The presentation Wednesday of FBI-gathered cell tower, Google-location and Wi-Fi data, plus call and text records from phones associated with the alleged killers and a pair of “burner” phones, sheds new light on how federal agents and prosecutors set out to unravel a killing that into the staged crash ring.
The data revealed new details from the events immediately before, during and after Garrison’s murder, showing how Harris and Parker allegedly communicated with Harris’ then-girlfriend, Jovanna Gardner, whom Harris tricked into texting Garrison to open the door before he was killed.
But it also left unanswered questions. Under cross-examination by Parker defense lawyer Richard Schroeder, Downing acknowledged omitting from the report some location data that showed Parker’s phone at his own home at the time of the killing, a key component of his defense.
The report also showed Harris’ mother, Selita Harris, withdrawing $20,000 — the amount Harris testified Parker would be paid for the hit — from a bank account the day before the killing. Selita Harris has not been accused of any role in the slaying.
Cornelius Garrison, an alleged “slammer” in a scheme to stage car wrecks with 18-wheelers, was killed Sept. 22, four days after he was indicted on fraud charges.
Family photo
Meetings at Planet Fitness
The day before the killing, prosecutors say Alfortish met with Harris and Parker to discuss the hit.
Cell tower data showed Alfortish moving that morning from south Harahan to Metairie, where prosecutors allege the trio met at Harris’ family auto shop to discuss the planned hit.
Alfortish’s attorneys said their client was actually at Clearview Mall, which is near the auto shop, and noted the inconsistency of cell tower data. Downing acknowledged he could not confirm the three men or their devices were in the same location that afternoon.
Like Harris’ mother, Parker withdrew thousands from his bank account that day — an act prosecutors say showed he was readying for the killing. His lawyers say Parker, who had participated in a staged accident, read Garrison’s federal indictment and was alarmed by a passage saying federal defendants would have to forfeit property. Parker scrambled to preserve his assets, his attorneys said.
Just before 1:30 p.m. that afternoon, Gardner texted Harris, “wya.”
Harris replied “East meeting with Big Boy” (another nickname for Parker). Google location data and cell tower data show Harris’ phone and a burner phone associated with Parker in the parking lot of a Planet Fitness in New Orleans East shortly afterward.
Just after 3:00 p.m., security camera footage showed Harris buying a second burner phone.
At around 5 p.m. Parker’s email handle, BigBoyCowboy55, connected to a Wi-Fi signal at the Home Depot on South Claiborne.
Stephen Haedicke, left, and Richard Schroeder, right, attorneys for Leon ÒChunkyÓ Parker, leave federal court in New Orleans following a day of testimony in the trial of Sean Alfortish on Wednesday, August 12, 2026.
STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
Harris visited Gardner that evening and gave her the newly purchased burner phone, according to his testimony and location data. Her orders were to text Garrison pretending to be a woman. But Harris told her that he simply wanted to meet his old mentor to offer him money — not to kill him, he testified.
“I figured she wouldn’t want anything to do with (killing),” he testified.
Location data appeared to show Harris and Parker meeting in the Planet Fitness lot again later that evening. “GAME TIME, WHO DAT - im here,” Parker texted Harris has he arrived at around 7:28 p.m. (The Saints that evening in Las Vegas.) The FBI records show a call between the burner phone allegedly in Parker’s possession and the one given to Gardner minutes later.
Gardner’s burner also called Garrison’s phone that evening, the records show.
‘What you doin later’
At around 4:45 p.m. the next afternoon, Gardner’s burner phone texted Garrison purporting to be someone named Kim.
“What you doin later,” she wrote.
Garrison replied, “nothing, staying inside.” The two made plans to meet. “Kim” texted Garrison, “ima call you when I come around 8:30.”
Garrison was in touch with another woman that evening, a former girlfriend named Juanisha Winchester. They spoke on the phone and texted after they hung up.
“He texted me inviting me over to his mom’s house,” Winchester testified. “I said, ‘stop playing with me.’ We stopped texting about six o’clock.”
The FBI presentation didn’t provide details on Harris’ and Parker’s locations as the killing unfolded, though Parker’s phone remained at his home at that time. Prosecutors say the burner phones — whose locations were used to unspool the suspects’ movements — were destroyed at one point.
At 8:34 p.m., Garrison’s phone rang. It was “Kim” on the burner.
Garrison’s mother four minutes later.
Sylvia Alfortish and her son, Todd, leave federal court in New Orleans following a day of testimony in the trial of Sean Alfortish on Wednesday, August 12, 2026.
STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
“My son just got shot,” Sandra Fontenette-Garrison told the dispatcher, who asked if she knew the suspects.
“I couldn’t see, baby,” she wailed. “I hit the floor. … Oh, lord have mercy.”
Another caller who asked a dispatcher to remain anonymous said they heard doors slam and screeching tires. At 9:30 p.m., Harris’ phone called Parker’s for 24 seconds.
FBI Special Agent Robert Orvin, a white-collar crime specialist assigned to investigating the staged accidents ring, arrived on the scene the next day. The case had ballooned into a murder-conspiracy, and the investigation of Garrison’s death would soon be handed off to the bureau’s violent crime specialists.
Agents canvassed the neighborhood, asking people to speak up. Few would.
“When you have an individual murdered, as one person told us, it sent a message on the street not to talk to the federal government,” Orvin said.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct which member of Leon Parker’s defense team cross-examined FBI Agent Blake Downing.