St. Landry Grand Jury Indicts

          Today, February 27, 2026, the St. Landry Parish Grand Jury indicted two men for the homicide of Markee Benjamin, 23, of Opelousas.  Dominique Joseph Trotter, 22, and Kurtel Anthony Gallien, 25, both of Opelousas, are both indicted for the Second Degree Murder of Benjamin.  Just after 6:30pm 0n December 12, 2025, Benjamin was sitting in the passenger seat of a sedan stopped at the intersection of Market Street and Church Street in Opelousas when shots rang out, striking the passenger side of the car and Benjamin.  Benjamin later died on December 20, 2025, from multiple gunshot wounds. Opelousas Police Department investigated the matter leading to the arrest Trotter and Gallien. 

          Nicholas Blain Lalonde, 48, of Arnaudville was also indicted today for the First Degree Rape of a juvenile under the age of 12. 

          Both Second Degree Murder and First Degree Rape carry a mandatory sentence if convicted to life imprisonment at hard labor, without probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.

INFANT HOMICIDE – MOTHER AND FATHER INDICTED

          On Tuesday January 27^th, the St. Landry Parish Grand Jury indicted twenty-year old Kaylee Faye Fontenot, and nineteen-year-old Taylor Daniel Broussard, both from Opelousas, with the First-Degree Murder of their eight-week-old baby girl, A. B.  Just after 8:00pm on October 25, 2025, officers from the Opelousas Police department and emergency personnel rushed to the home on Liberty Street and attempted to revive the infant to no avail.  It was not until a preliminary autopsy report was released a few days later when investigators learned that the infant had historic and recent internal injuries including a multitude of healing and freshly broken ribs, along with a severed spine.  Investigators learned that the infant had had a healthy birth without complications.

          First Degree Murder carries a mandatory sentence of life at hard labor in Louisiana.  Fontenot and Broussard are set for arraignment on February 19^th, 2026.

ST. LANDRY PARISH GRAND JURY INDICTS KERA ROSE VITATOE

January 9, 2026, the St. Landry Parish Grand Jury indicted twenty-one-year-old Kera Rose Vitatoe of Lafayette with the Second-Degree Murder of Mareya Henry of Opelousas.  Just after 1:00pm on October 13, 2025, shots rang out on Hashim Street in Opelousas.   Henry was eighteen when she died of two gunshot wounds in her back from a 9mm weapon.  Vitatoe and Henry were in a romantic relationship with a history of violence.  Henry had sent a note for help, but when her cousin arrived, he was shot in the shoulder by Vitatoe.  Henry was ultimately rushed to the hospital for treatment but died shortly thereafter.

Second Degree Murder carries a mandatory sentence of life at hard labor in Louisiana.  Vitatoe is set for arraignment on January 22, 2026.

TEVIN JENKINS – NOW TWICE CONVICTED

OF SECOND-DEGREE MURDER

            After nearly 7 hours of deliberation, a St. Landry Parish Jury reached a unanimous verdict finding 32-year-old Tevin Jenkins of Opelousas guilty of Second-Degree Murder of Rodney Joseph Savoy, 34, of St. Martinville.

Last week’s trial is the second time Jenkins was brought before a jury for the murder of Savoy.  Jenkins was previously convicted of Second-Degree Murder on August 30^th of 2019, by a non-unanimous jury when only 10 of the 12 jurors voted for Second Degre Murder.  At the time of Jenkins’ first conviction, Louisiana law provided that the agreement of 10 jurors was sufficient for a conviction.  However, in April of 2020, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the 6^th Amendment requires a unanimous jury to convict a defendant of a serious offense.  Jenkins had to be re-tried.

Assistant District Attorneys Kylie Leblanc and Glenn Marcantel completed the second trial in four days.  Savoy was at his girlfriend’s home on Della drive when the evidence established that Jenkins unscrewed the security light on the front door of the residence, dismantled the door camera, then broke into the rear glass door, cutting himself, and proceeded to shoot up the home until he shot and killed Savoy in the back bedroom.

Louisiana law provides that Second Degree Murder carries mandatory life imprisonment at hard labor.  Sentencing is set for January 30, 2026, at 9:00am.