Orleans Parish Crime Victims Reparations Unit helps victims with more than money

After Nelkita Jones’ son, Westley, was shot and killed in 2018, she honored him with a room in her former home. She tacked the red roses and carnations that had blanketed his casket to the walls, added a karaoke machine — and invited people to party in the “West Wing” of her white house.

The karaoke machine was for Westley, a 24-year-old young man who loved to rap, said Jones. But the flowers, in Westley’s favorite hue, were expensive. “I thought about it: We paid hundreds and hundreds of dollars for those flowers,” Jones said. “I didn’t want to throw them away.”

Jones didn’t yet know that a unit of the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office would cover the expense.

A Crime Victims Reparations Unit exists in every Louisiana sheriff’s office — though, like Jones, you may not know it. Funded through the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement, each unit’s aim is to financially assist crime survivors and victims’ families in their parishes, reimbursing everything from funeral and medical expenses to the cost of professional crime scene cleanup.

The reimbursements have caps, including $5,000 for a funeral, and not every applicant who asks to be reimbursed will be approved. Even so, the impact of the reimbursements is immense. Last year, units awarded more than $4.2 million statewide, cutting checks to thousands of applicants.

In Orleans Parish, the Crime Victims Reparations Unit is comprised of a small-but-passionate team of two, who in 2022 delivered more than $1 million in reimbursements and intervened in 698 cases. Led by Capt. Stephanie Minto, the duo has been heralded by crime survivors, victims’ families and criminal justice actors as a dogged advocates and compassionate allies.

That’s because they do more than process applications: They also listen to applicants’ stories, and support them through an opaque and often agonizing long criminal justice process.

Jones has experienced that first hand.

“When a person can feel your spirit, they will gravitate to you, and they will do everything in their power to give you a sense of peace,” said Jones. “And that's what I feel Miss Stephanie (Minto) is to me.”

When her second son, Nehemiah, was murdered in 2019, Jones knew she could call Minto.

More than money

Minto works alongside only one other employee, Andrea Howard, to vet every application that comes to the unit for financial assistance. In the past five years, the unit has reviewed applications in more than 3,700 cases and awarded more than $5 million to approved applicants, data shows.

For Jones, one check — paid after Westley’s funeral — meant she could finally add his name and photo to his gravestone. She didn’t have the money before that.

The other part of Minto and Howard’s work is less quantifiable, but equally important, they say.

“I’m a law enforcement officer, but I do not push that on my victims at all,” Minto said.

“They might see me in uniforms in the community. But when they are here with me, I want them to feel comfortable. I want them to feel that they have someone they can share their story with.”

On a recent afternoon, Jones shared her story. The mother of five held up her hand. “I used to say my children were my fingers. But they cut off my middle finger,” she said, referencing Westley, her middle child, “and they cut off my pinkie,” her youngest son, Nehemiah. “So now I have to live with nubs.”

Westley’s killing remains unsolved. New Orleans police have arrested and charged Tyrone Steele in Nehemiah’s death. From time to time, Minto calls Jones to check in on the cases — and on her.

“She’s willing to help,” Jones said. “She’s a blessing.”

If you or a loved one has been a victim of crime and you need assistance, contact your sheriff’s office and ask to be connected with its Crime Victims Reparations Unit. More information about the units can be found on the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement’s website.