Murder cases fill 2014 dockets

High-profile murder cases will take the judicial spotlight in both Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes this year.

Proceedings continue against Jeremiah Wright, the Thibodaux man accused of beheading his 7-year-old special-needs son in 2011. Wright is charged with first-degree murder and Lafourche District Attorney Cam Morvant II is seeking the death penalty.

Wright’s attorneys are offering an insanity defense, in a case plagued with delays; much of the scheduling issue has involved the cost of experts and counsel, necessitating judicial involvement.

Another Lafourche defendant, David Brown, 34, faces a death penalty potential if convicted of murdering Jacqueline Nieves and her daughters, 7-year-old Gabriella and 20-month-old Izabela, in November 2011, in Lockport.

Two of the victims were raped and their apartment was set afire.

Prosecuting the two first-degree murder cases will place a strain on Morvant’s budget to be sure.

“Jeremiah Wright, before he was even arraigned we had spent $200,000,” Morvant said.

In Brown’s case, Morvant is not yet certain what defense will be chosen.

The prosecution of Amy Hebert, the Mathews mother convicted of murdering her two children in 2007, came close to $500,000, Morvant said.

The prosecution burden of cost comes directly out of the district attorney’s criminal court fund, which is fed by fines and court costs.

Morvant’s calendar includes a second-degree murder case against Latisha Thomas, accused of killing her 2-month-old daughter, Angel, through malnourishment in 2012.

Alfred Starks, a 19-year-old from Thibodaux, faces two counts of second-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Tre Scott and 26-year-old Jordy Williams last year.

Robert Chouest of Cut Off could be tried this year on a second-degree murder charge. He is accused of shooting 41-year-old Shawn Galjour of Larose in the head, as Galjour lay in a neighbor’s driveway.

And an August stabbing in Thibodaux has resulted in a second-degree murder charge against 21-year-old Jacobe Henderson, of Thibodaux. Police say he killed a man named Douglas Turner on Sanders Street.

Prosecutors in these types of cases routinely set trial dates, but they are often changed due to various developments. In many though not all cases, it is the defense that will ask for a delay.

In Terrebonne Parish, an old case that saw a former deputy sentenced to die will take up many hours and court dates in the courtroom of Judge Johnny Walker.

Chad Louviere is seeking post-conviction relief from his guilty plea and death sentence in connection with the 1996 murder of bank teller Pamela Ann Duplantis during a hostage standoff.

Louviere’s attorneys say he was not competent to enter a guilty plea to first-degree murder and that his attorneys at the time never sought a competency hearing.

They also say their predecessors did not act on Louviere’s clam that the shooting of Duplantis was an accident.

Terrebonne has two active first-degree murder cases.

Aquendius Walker and Derrick James are charged in connection with the Johnson Ridge shooting death of Bernard Baker last year.

Troy Jackson of Gibson faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with the shooting of Sergio Castellano. Police say the laborer was lured into a truck with promises of female company then was shot while en route to Gibson.

Ciegie Cheramie of Ovett, Miss., and Brandy Perdue of Destrehan also face second-degree murder charges in connection with the crime, which police theorize started out as a robbery attempt.

A dozen second-degree murder cases are on the Terrebonne dockets altogether.

“We intend to pursue the cases involving the most serious crimes without doing so at the expense of victims of less serious crimes,” District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr. said.