Juvenile sent to death row

Nonprofits / Activism
Published on Nov 9, 2022
Alonzo Defillo Jr. was known as Pee Wee by his family because of he shares his father's name. But as he grew up, the name stuck because of his small stature.

“I think the name Pee Wee does a really good job of describing him, physically. He was tiny,” said Cheri Deatsch, an Orleans Parish juvenile public defender who has known the family for years.

Pee Wee was the oldest child in a loving and supportive family, but in his early teens, hardship struck with a vengeance.

When he was 14, he found his grandmother dead at their home. Pee Wee was already diagnosed with mental health problems, and when he turned 15, darkness descended again.

“He found his mother dead, as well, in the bathtub,” said his uncle Marlon Defillo. “Only to find out later that his father was in dire need of a liver transplant.”

Debbie Defillo died suddenly of a brain aneurysm at age 45 at about the same time that Alonzo Sr. was diagnosed with liver cancer and placed on a waiting list for a transplant. The oldest of four siblings and the only boy in the house, Pee Wee did not handle the situation well.

“It's painful to talk about, but he lost it,” Alonzo Sr. said, fighting back tears. “He cut up. He acted out.”