A Metairie woman found dead in Avondale last month may have been killed by a former death-row inmate because of a food stamp scheme gone awry, according to information presented in 24th Judicial District Court on Wednesday.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff's OfficeCurtis Kyles

That possible motive for the killing of Crystal St. Pierre, 26, was presented by the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office at a probable cause hearing for Curtis Kyles of New Orleans in commissioner's court. Kyles, 51, has been booked with first-degree murder and second-degree kidnapping in connection with St. Pierre's death and is being held at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna without bond.

On Wednesday, prosecutors presented the basic details of the case to justify Kyles' continued incarceration. Commissioner Caroline Kiff ultimately decided there was sufficient evidence for Kyles to be tried, and she refused to set a bond for him on the first-degree murder charges.

No trial date was set for Kyles, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges..

St. Pierre was found dead in an overgrown lot roughly 500 feet from U.S. 90 in Avondale on June 11. She had a single gunshot wound to the head and bruising on her body. Investigators later recovered a .38 caliber slug from her head.

Police eventually identified Kyles and Chicwanda Forbes, 25, as possible suspects in her death, and eventually arrested them at a home in Mississippi. Forbes has not been charged with a crime as the district attorney's office awaits delivery of a police report from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office.

During the hearing, Detective Gary Barteet testified that authorities developed Kyles and Forbes as suspects after three witnesses reported seeing them forcibly remove St. Pierre from an Algiers apartment complex June 10. The witnesses also said Forbes attacked St. Pierre, and that Kyles prevented anyone from intervening by insinuating that he had a weapon. The kidnapping was reported to New Orleans Police, but they treated it as a miscellaneous complaint instead of a kidnapping, Barteet said.

Barteet testified that authorities used Kyles' cell phone records to determine that he made several calls while traveling west in Jefferson Parish, presumably heading towards Avondale on the West Bank Expressway. One of the witnesses told investigators that Kyles was warned not to harm St. Pierre because New Orleans police were at the apartment, and he told that witness to tell police that he was giving St. Pierre a ride to her father's home.

In addition to the circumstantial evidence, Barteet testified that Forbes implicated Kyles in the killing after she was arrested with him in Mississippi. She said Kyles gave St. Pierre an undisclosed amount of money in exchange for using her Louisiana Purchase, or food stamp, card. Often, individuals with drug habits will earn extra money by exchanging their cards for cash at a deep discount, and St. Pierre had prior issues with narcotics abuse and prostitution.

But, Forbes said that when she and Kyles went to a local grocery store, the card did not have the right amount of money, Barteet said. Kyles became enraged, and enlisted Forbes to beat St. Pierre for the transgression. Forbes told detectives that after she beat St. Pierre, she and Kyles forced her into a car, and Kyles shot her when they got to Avondale, Barteet testified.

But, Paul Fleming, one of Kyles' attorneys from the Public Defender's Office, said prosecutors have not been able to identify the specific weapon used to kill St. Pierre, have not found that weapon and have only speculation and the statements of a co-defendant to tie Kyles to St. Pierre's death. Fleming questioned whether St. Pierre was even killed in Jefferson Parish, and it was he who introduced the information about Fleming's drug use and prostitution. He asked Kiff to refuse the case, a request she ultimately denied.

Kyles was charged with murder in the 1984 shooting of Delores "Dee" Dye, 68, in the parking lot of a Schwegmann's supermarket, 5300 Old Gentilly Road, in New Orleans. His first trial was a mistrial, followed by a conviction and years at Angola State Penitentiary before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 1995.

The court found that the office of then-District Attorney Harry Connick Sr. had failed to turn over information that could have helped Kyles' defense. Kyles was tried three more times after the court ruling, but all ended in mistrials.

After a 1998 mistrial, Connick decided not to pursue the case again.

Two suspects in the killing of a Metairie woman found dead in Avondale last week were captured by federal marshals in Mississippi on Thursday night.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff's OfficeCurtis Kyles

Curtis Kyles, 51, of 2110 Cypress Acres Drive, Algiers and Chicwanda Forbes, 25, of 167 Westpark Court, Algiers will be booked with first-degree murder and second-degree kidnapping when they are extradited from Mississippi.

Kyles and Forbes are accused of kidnapping and killing Crystal St. Pierre, said Col. John Fortunato, a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office spokesman.

JPSOChicwanda Forbes

St. Pierre was found dead in a wooded lot in Avondale on June 11, after authorities say she was kidnapped the day before. Kyles and Forbes were arrested without incident at a residence in Bassfield, Mississippi, and authorities have also seized a vehicle they believe was used in the kidnapping, Fortunato said.