Victim in hospital but condition has improved

Dianne Flowers

A Chalmette woman in a long-term relationship with a man shot him during an argument in the home they own together early Sunday, Jan. 16, and after taking him to a hospital with a chest wound they both initially lied about the incident, Chief Deputy Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

The woman, Dianne Flowers, 46, 3325 Decomine Drive, and the victim, Sylvain Johnson, 45, went to University Hospital in New Orleans and said the shooting happened on the West Bank, prompting officials to call the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, which later called St. Bernard authorities, Pohlmann said.

When St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s detectives went to the couple’s house Sunday evening, Flowers eventually came home and, under questioning, agreed to a search of the home and said she shot Johnson during an argument inside but claimed she was a victim of domestic abuse, Pohlmann said.

Flowers was booked with aggravated second-degree battery and on Tuesday, Jan. 18, was released from St. Bernard Parish Prison on bond set at $50,000.

The shooting was the first in St. Bernard Parish since June 2010 in which someone was seriously injured. A teen-age girl suffered a minor graze wound to the head last summer when her boyfriend shot at her in an argument.

When Flowers opened a door at her home, detectives found blood stains in several rooms and evidence that several shots had been fired from a .25-caliber handgun, including one which destroyed a television in one room and another that hit a ceiling, Pohlmann said.

The couple had quarreled early Sunday morning after they returned home separately from a party and Johnson arrived later than the woman, Pohlmann said. Flowers shot the television in what was described as Johnson’s television room, Pohlmann said, and when they struggled another shot hit his hand and apparently deflected into his upper chest. She said Johnson hid the gun, which hasn’t been recovered.

Neither called authorities or went to a hospital immediately, Pohlmann said. Johnson laid on a floor for a while until his condition was worsening and then Flowers brought him to University Hospital, where they said he was shot in an incident in Marrero.

Johnson was initially listed in critical condition at University Hospital but his condition has since improved, Pohlmann said.