Arraignment delayed in alleged accidental homicide

Citing an ongoing investigation, Lafourche Parish prosecutors sought and received a postponed arraignment of the Galliano man who said he accidentally killed 15-year-old Braxton Bourda last month in Larose.

The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office charged 19-year-old Neely Gardner with negligent homicide after he allegedly confessed to unintentionally firing the bullet that killed Braxton from a 9 mm handgun he found alongside the road.

Prosecutors have not yet decided what charge to formally levy against Gardner, whose arraignment date was continued from last Thursday to July 28.

“We’re waiting on further (LPSO) investigation before we can make a decision,” said Lafourche First Assistant District Attorney Kristine Russell. “I have faith that on the 28th we will move forward with an arraignment.”

Braxton was shot one time in the face June 6 while he rode a bicycle along East 23rd Street and was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

Gardner surrendered to authorities approximately 11 hours after the shooting with the knowledge he had been deemed a “person of interest” in the ensuing investigation, LPSO spokesman deputy Brennan Matherne said.

Without an attorney present, Gardner allegedly told detectives the bullet fired as he tried to unload a handgun he found on the ground near a home. He said he discarded the firearm after the shooting.

Investigators have not yet recovered the gun, Matherne said Monday, though detectives continue to search.

Gardner and others who were walking alongside Braxton when the shot was fired moved the teenager’s body from the middle of the road and fled the scene, Matherne said. At least some were questioned, according to authorities, but no one other than Gardner has been charged in connection with the homicide.

Gardner relayed that he and Braxton were friends, and details of his confession meshed with the accounts of bystanders, Matherne said.

Louisiana law defines negligent homicide as the killing of a human by criminal negligence, which occurs when “there is such disregard of the interest of others that the offender’s conduct amounts to a gross deviation below the standard of care expected to be maintained by a reasonably careful man under like circumstances,” according to a separate statute. A conviction of negligent homicide carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

That the firearm has not been retrieved has some members of Braxton’s family skeptical of Gardner’s alleged confession.

“I would say if the guy (Gardner) can’t come up with what he did with the gun, he’s a liar,” Braxton’s great-grandmother Peggy Bagala said.

Braxton’s aunt Tameka Bourda said she is praying that justice is served and said the postponed arraignment indicates that prosecutors and investigators are not latched solely onto the negligent homicide charge.

“For it to be a continued investigation, I guess it means it’s not just open and shut like a charge negligent homicide is,” Bourda said. “I guess there’s more evidence that needs to be looked at and more people to speak with. … I feel confident in the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office and our judicial system.”

Braxton was a star swimmer preparing for his sophomore year at South Lafourche High. He swam for high school and for the local club team, the Hurricanes.

As a freshman, he placed in the top eight at the state swim meet last November.

Coaches and educators remembered the self-ordained “black Michael Phelps” for his jovial personality and as a confident person who had an independent spirit. They lamented that his potential as a swimmer and as a person would never be fulfilled.

Neely Gardner