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A state judge has ruled that a Ragley man convicted in 2004 of raping and murdering a young girl from Moss Bluff does not have an intellectual disability that would prohibit him from being executed. The American Press reports Judge Michael Canady ruled Friday that 40-year-old Jason Manuel Reeves is not mentally disabled. In 2012, Canaday signed a death warrant for Reeves, who was convicted of the November 2001 rape and killing of 4-year-old Mary Jean Thigpen. A scheduled execution date was postponed after attorneys filed an appeal claiming Reeves had an intellectual disability.
TWO PROPOSED ORDINANCES, A BAN ON SMOKING IN BARS AND A REPEAL OF A GO-CUP BAN, ARE UP FOR INTRODUCTION AT TOMORROW NIGHT’S LAFAYETTE CITY PARISH COUNCIL MEETING. THE BAN ON GO CUPS AND OTHER OPEN ALCOHOLIC CONTAINERS WAS APPROVED BY A 5-TO-4 VOTE IN 2010. ONE OF THOSE WHO SUPPORTED THE BAN, COUNCILMAN JAY CASTILLE, HAS TOLD THE ADVOCATE NEWSPAPER THAT HE MIGHT CHANGE HIS MIND IF THE SMOKING BAN IS APPROVED. THE GO-CUP BAN WAS SUPPORTED BY LAFAYETTE POLICE AS A WAY OF REDUCING LITTER AND THE LARGE CROWDS THAT CLOG JEFFERSON STREET.
AT LEAST EIGHT PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN THE CUSTODY OF THE IBERIA PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE OVER THE LAST TEN YEARS, ACCORDING TO A REPORT BY THE ADVOCATE NEWSPAPER. SEVEN OF THOSE WHO DIED WERE INMATES, AND TWO OF THOSE HAD SEVERE CASES OF MENTAL ILLNESS. SHERIFF LOUIS ACKAL ACKNOWLEDGED THEY HAVE HAD PROBLEMS CARING FOR THE MENTALLY ILL, BUT ARE DOING THE BEST THEY CAN WITH A NEAR IMPOSSIBLE SITUATION. HE SAYS ONE CHANGE THEY MADE WAS TO HAVE MEDICAL STAFF ON SITE 24 HOURS A DAY AT THE JAIL.
A 42-year-old man police believe raped a woman in 1992 was arrested Friday and charged with aggravated rape. Lake Charles police say they arrested Johnell E. Ledoux of Lake Charles and charged him with aggravated rape in connection with a rape that took place in 1992 in Lake Charles. Police say a detective reopened the case in April and resubmitted evidence to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab to build up the case against Ledoux. Ledoux was held by authorities on an $850,000 bond.
A Lafayette woman who pleaded no contest to manslaughter in the smothering death of her baby has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. The Advocate reports that Raven Senegal, 21, received the minimum sentence in the death of Miracle Senegal, who was almost 6 months old when she died Jan. 29, 2014. She was sentenced Thursday. Prosecutors said they reduced Senegal’s charge to manslaughter because she suffered abuse as a child.
A DOG, WHO ALERTED A VILLE PLATTE FAMILY TO A HOUSE FIRE ON THURSDAY, DIED IN ANOTHER HOUSE FIRE ON SATURDAY. SATURDAY’S FIRE WAS THE THIRD FIRE IN THREE NIGHTS AT THE HOME. AFTER AN INVESTIGATION, THE HOMEOWNER, KEVIN ARGETSINGER, WAS ARRESTED LATE LAST NIGHT. HOWEVER, HIS BROTHER, JASON, TELLS KATC THAT HE KNOWS HE DIDN’T SET THE FIRES, BECAUSE HE WAS ASLEEP WHEN IT HAPPENED.
MORE THAN 800 PEOPLE WERE ON HAND SATURDAY AT PARC SAN SOUSI IN LAFAYETTE FOR THE GIRLS ON THE RUN 5-K. IT WAS THE CULMINATION OF THE TEN WEEK GIRLS ON THE RUN PROGRAM. 230 ACADIANA GIRLS PARTICIPATED IN THE PROGRAM, WHICH COMBINED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY WITH INTERACTIVE LESSONS. THE PROGRAM BEGAN LAST YEAR WITH TWO SCHOOLS AND 42 GIRLS, BUT GREW THIS YEAR TO INCLUDE 12 ACADIANA SCHOOLS.
A LAKE CHARLES MAN DIED SATURDAY IN A MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT ON RED DAVIS MCCALLISTER ROAD IN CALCASIEU PARISH. KIM MYERS OF THE CALCASIE PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS 35-YEAR-OLD JON M. DAIGLE WAS TRAVELING AT HIGH SPEEDS WHEN HE LEFT THE ROAD INTO A DITCH, AND HIT AN EMBANKMENT. SHE SAYS HE WAS WEARING A HELMET BUT IT WAS NOT SECURED PROPERLY. HE WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE AND TOXICOLOGY SAMPLES WERE TAKEN AND SUBMITTED TO THE STATE CRIME LAB.
