3-19-21
A federal hate crime indictment charges a Lafayette man with trying to kill and dismember one of three men he allegedly kidnapped after luring them using social media and dating apps. Thursday’s indictment charges 19-year-old Chance Joseph Seneca of Lafayette with three counts of kidnapping and one hate crime for the alleged attempt to kill an 18-year-old man in June. The indictment says Seneca planned to use the man’s body parts as “trophies and food.” A Department of Justice statement said Seneca had “an overarching scheme to kidnap and murder” gay men.
STATE POLICE HAVE RELEASED THE IDENTITY OF TWO PEOPLE KILLED IN A CRASH ON I-TEN YESTERDAY MORNING IN ACADIA PARISH EAST OF JENNINGS. THE TWO VICTIMS ARE TWENTY-EIGHT-YEAR-OLD ERIK ANTONIO MUNOS OF LAFAYETTE AND SIXTY-YEAR-OLD JOHNNY GENE CARSON OF SPRING, TEXAS. STATE POLICE SAY THAT MUNOS WAS TRAVELING WEST WHEN FOR AN UNKNOWN REASON, HE STRUCK A GUARDRAIL AND THEN CROSSED THE MEDIAN INTO THE EASTBOUND LANES. HIS CHEVY SILVERADO WAS STRUCK BY AN EIGHTEEN WHEELER AND A FORD F-THREE-FIFTY DRVEN BY CARSON, AND MUNOS WAS EJECTED FROM HIS VEHICLE.
Louisiana voters determined the state’s congressional lineup three months ago, but the presidential election and the coronavirus pandemic are forcing a new round of elections Saturday for two of those U.S. House seats. Democrat Cedric Richmond left his New Orleans-based seat for a special adviser job in President Joe Biden’s administration. Republican Luke Letlow died of COVID-19 complications before he was even sworn in to Congress for the northeast Louisiana-based seat he won in December. Letlow’s widow Julia is the front-runner to fill his seat among 12 candidates.
THE LAKE CHARLES CITY COUNCIL PASSED AN ORDINANCE THAT PROVIDES FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS TO THE NEIGHBORHOODS ALONG THE KAYOUCHEE COULEE. RESIDENTS IN THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS HAVE TO DEAL WITH FLOODING FROM THE COULEE EVERYTIME THERE ARE HEAVY RAINS. THE COUNCIL HAS NOT SPECIFIED HOW THE MONEY WILL BE SPENT. THE SPONSOR OF THE ORDINANCE, RODNEY GEYEN, IS HOPING THE MONEY WILL GO TO AN INCENTIVE PROGRAM THAT WILL BE DISTRIBUTED DIRECTLY TO THE AFFECTED HOMEOWNERS.
A LAFAYETTE MURDER SUSPECT IS BACK BEHIND BARS AFTER HE WAS MISTAKENLY ALLOWED TO BOND OUT IN NOVEMBER. LAST JANUARY A GRAND JURY INDICTED RONTRALON JOSEPH ON A CHARGE OF FIRST DEGREE MURDER, WHICH IS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR BAIL, BUT JOSEPH WAS RELEASED AFTER POSTING BAIL ON LESSER CHARGES IN NOVEMBER. DISTRICT ATTORNEY DON LANDRY SAYS SOME ERRORS WERE MADE ENTERING INFORMATION INTO THE COMPUTER PROGRAM WHICH LED TO JOSEPH BEING RELEASED. JOSEPH WAS ARRESTED IN GEORGIA ON FEBRUARY NINETEENTH AND LANDRY SAYS THEY ARE WORKING TO EXTRADITE HIM TO LAFAYETTE TO FINISH HIS TRIAL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
A MAN FACING CHARGES IN THE MURDER OF A NEW IBERIA TEEN IS BACK IN JAIL AFTER VIOLENTLY ATTACKING HIS CHILD’S BUS DRIVER WHILE OUT ON BOND. SYLVIA MASTERS HAS MORE.
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LOUISIANA HAD THREE HUNDRED NINETY-SIX NEW CONFIRMED COVID-NINETEEN CASES, ACCORDING TO YESTERDAY’S REPORT FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. THERE WERE SIX MORE DEATHS STATEWIDE. HOSPITALIZATIONS FOR COVID-NINETEEN WENT DOWN BY THIRTY-TWO, BUT THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS ON VENTILATORS ROSE BY ONE.
ACADIANA HAD NO NEW DEATHS FROM COVID-NINETEEN FOR THE SECOND DAY IN A ROW. SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA HAD ONE DEATH IN CALCASIEU PARISH. ACADIANA ADDED ONE HUNDRED ONE CONFIRMED COVID-NINETEEN CASES, INCLUDING TWENTY-THREE IN LAFAYETTE. SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA REPORTED SIXTY-FIVE NEW CASES. CALCASIEU PARISH HAD THE MOST IN THE REGION WITH SIXTY-FOUR.
