Page 2 - Lessie Hookfin News Today

Thats correct. Reporter this camera, about a block away from chiquitas office, was working fine. It showed a quiet street the night of the killing. Normal activity. What they really wanted was the shot from this camera, which swept right pass chiquitas office door. But bad luck. A recent storm had knocked it out. The camera in front of the office was not working properly on that particular night. Suspect. This wasnt going to be an openshut solve. But there was evidence to work with. The crime sc...

This week its the beach versus the big apple. Were on the hunt for a new home with reality star turned tv host Audrina Patridge. Oh my gosh. Its so pretty. Sara gore high profile agents from the west coast. Look, i lived in new york, and as much as i like a closet sized apartment, ryan, doesnt cut it anymore. Sara gore and the east. I typically dont like to fight guys smaller than me, but im going to do it today. Lets go. Sara gore pull out all the stops to seal the deal. Plus were taking a trip...

In a nice building a few blocks from the courts complex. lessie hookfin went with her. >> reporter: what areas did she start to stake out for herself? >> criminal. she wanted to do criminal so bad. >> reporter: prem burns watched her in action. chiquita was one to speak her mind and dress how she wanted in conservative lady lawyer pantsuits one day and stilettos and spiky hair the next. >> she would walk into a courtroom and she looked like she owned the place. >> reporter: you could hear her co...

Into that nice new office varnishing the bookshelves, proudly hanging out her shingle. >> reporter: did anybody ever worry about her and her clients? cause there were some tough -- >> i -- >> reporter: -- hombres that she was defending. >> there were. but i dont think that it was to the point where either she had to worry or anyone else had to worry. >> reporter: on february 19, 2009, chiquita was working hard, prepping her defense in a double homicide case. she told lessie she had to work late ...

>> she was talented. she had overcome so very much in a short time period. she was the star of her family. >> reporter: chiquita was the first in her family to go to college. then she enrolled in hometown southern law school. got grabbed up by a law firm where she started clerking while studying for the bar. thats when she met legal assistant lessie hookfin. >> she was just driven, wanting to -- to get that next -- ill call it that next high. and law school was that, being a lawyer was that. and...

Statements from them. >> reporter: the detectives told the prosecutor that both women insisted chiquita wasnt their lover, just a good attorney. >> we loved her work. she was a friend, but thats where it ended. >> reporter: still, the detectives took a closer look at the couple. >> we didnt see any scratches on their arms. we also realized one of the suspects had braids and not a weave in her hair. >> reporter: whats more, police say that both women had alibis. legal assistant lessie hookfin was...

Was dead. >> reporter: chiquitas loved ones were huddled together when veteran homicide detectives chris johnson and elvin howard rolled up to the scene. >> so the responding officers told you, "thats the husband over there," but hes on the edge of things for you. you havent approached him yet?" >> thats -- thats correct. >> he was upset to the point where uniform patrol had to put him in the back of the unit. >> so do you go up at the point? >> no. at that time, we try to gather as much informa...

Rising Star Criminal Defense Attorney Meets Her Own Tragic End In Louisiana “She was butchered,” prosecutor Prem Burns said of seeing Chiquita Tate brutally stabbed to death on the floor of her Baton Rouge legal office after working late one night on an upcoming murder case.  Chiquita Tate—a rising defense attorney in the Louisiana legal scene—had been working late in February 2009 to prepare for an upcoming murder trial when she tragically became a murder victim herself. ...