GUILTY LA - Jeremy Mardis, 6, fatally shot by Marksville LE, 3 Nov 2015

[Kakidoll]

I'm going to get accused of racism for pointing this out, but someone needs to say it: if the races of the murderers and the victims had been reversed, there would have been riots and this would be a world-wide news story.

You are right on. I never HEARD of this before today. If it was reversed, Obama would be at the funeral and it would be on every news station. THAT is why I have such and issue with these cases. This is a TRUE story of BAD COPS and INNOCENT VICTIM. But i bet it was kept quiet for many reasons. Not one riot over this, not even making national news. And only 77 posts in how long? HOW can anyone compare this to a 'teen or child' being shot in the midst of a criminal act with a fake gun. NO COMPARISON. VERY glad the other cop was there with a camera on and these guys end up where they belong.

 

[bluesneakers]

You are right on. I never HEARD of this before today. If it was reversed, Obama would be at the funeral and it would be on every news station. THAT is why I have such and issue with these cases. This is a TRUE story of BAD COPS and INNOCENT VICTIM. But i bet it was kept quiet for many reasons. Not one riot over this, not even making national news. And only 77 posts in how long? HOW can anyone compare this to a 'teen or child' being shot in the midst of a criminal act with a fake gun. NO COMPARISON. VERY glad the other cop was there with a camera on and these guys end up where they belong.

You must be a Bristol Palin fan.

Bristol Palin Real Mad Media Ignoring White Child’s Shooting She Read About In Media

We think we can help Bristol out here. For one thing, the story is “all over the media.” For Crom’s sake, it was an Associated Press story that was carried by Yahoo; it’s also been covered by the three major networks, CNN, and major papers, and almost every one of the stories features heartbreaking photos of Jeremy and his dad. CBS Evening News featured it prominently Monday night. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that the FBI is now assisting in the investigation.

Bristol Palin ignores coverage of Jeremy Mardis’ death, says media ‘yawns’ because he’s white

But Palin also suggested that Yahoo News was the only outlet covering the fatal encounter. In fact, not only was the article she cited published by the Associated Press, but Mardis’ death has been covered in both Louisiana media and national outlets like CNN and The Atlantic, among others.

An online search for news related to the shooting turns up more than 1,000 articles devoted to the subject, contrary to Palin’s claim.

I love her fake outrage. As if she cares. As if she's using this to do anything other than complain about people who care about social justice and racial oppression. As if she would care if the victim in this case weren't white. We can see right through you Bristol.

 

[Kakidoll]

You must be a Bristol Palin fan.

Bristol Palin Real Mad Media Ignoring White Child’s Shooting She Read About In Media



Bristol Palin ignores coverage of Jeremy Mardis’ death, says media ‘yawns’ because he’s white




I love her fake outrage. As if she cares. As if she's using this to do anything other than complain about people who care about social justice and racial oppression. As if she would care if the victim in this case weren't white. We can see right through you Bristol.

Actually no. I totally agree with you on this one!

 

[bluesneakers]

An obvious difference is this incident was handled the way it should have been. It happened on a Tuesday. The officers who shot Mardis were charged with murder and attempted murder by Friday that same week.

I wonder why.

 

[snowbunny0305]

Police release graphic video of six-year-old boy's fatal shooting

http://dailym.ai/2duiQPS


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Tawny]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/29/us/louisiana-body-cam-shooting/

Reason #1 deadly force should never be the first resort.

ETA: Sorry, just saw yesterday's update.

 

[Fred Hall]

The DA would have found this shooting justified if the child had not been in the car, since this case is fundamentally no different than any number of other cases where police have shot into cars killing unarmed people. A man had tried to escape arrest in his vehicle, but was eventually boxed in. He then reversed in an apparent attempt to squeeze between the surrounding police cars, whereupon two officers fired on him. However, the bullets aimed at the driver also struck and killed a six year old child who was tucked down in the front passenger seat. The DA quickly realized that his "cars are a deadly weapon" shtick wouldn't work this time and charged both officers with second-degree murder. The definition of second-degree murder in Louisiana is this:

§30.1. Second degree murder
A. Second degree murder is the killing of a human being:
(1) When the offender has a specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm; or
(2) When the offender is engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of aggravated or first degree rape, forcible or second degree rape, aggravated arson, aggravated burglary, aggravated kidnapping, second degree kidnapping, aggravated escape, assault by drive-by shooting, armed robbery, first degree robbery, second degree robbery, simple robbery, cruelty to juveniles, second degree cruelty to juveniles, or terrorism, even though he has no intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm.

The bodycam footage shows that the two officers did not realize there was a child in the car when they opened fire, and thus the killing of the child was accidental rather than intentional. I think the officers might have been mischarged. But no matter. The jury will convict them anyway, and they will deserve it. Let this tragic case be a warning to any "LEO's" who might be reading. If you are ever tempted to pull out your gun and blaze away at a car, secure in the belief that the DA will have your back, you may find yourself in exactly the same situation as officers Derrick Stafford and Norris Greenhouse Jr.

 

[Chainsaw385]

I keep checking on this case with a Google search every once in a while .....and somehow amazingly just saw the video today.

I was not happy that either suspect was out on bail just by reading descriptions of the video BUT after seeing it I am livid.

In the video before the sound started it appears the officer wearing the body cam may have also fired........I thought only the 2 suspects fired shots.
It is possible the officer wearing the body cam did not fire and he just jerked his hands as other shots were going off but can anyone confirm by what has been released so far that only the 2 suspects fired their guns that night?

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Jury selection for Derrick Stafford trial set to begin Monday

http://www.kalb.com/content/news/Jury-selection-for-Derrick-Stafford-trial-set-to-begin-Monday-415991833.html

The trial for Derrick Stafford, one of the two men accused of the 2015 murder of a 6-year-old and the attempted murder of his father is set to begin this week at the Avoyelles Parish Courthouse. But first, a jury must be selected; a process that could take a couple of days.

According to 12th Judicial Court Judge William Bennett, at least 600 summonses have been sent out to Avoyelles Parish residents. He said 300 will report to the courthouse on Monday and the other 300 on Tuesday.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Six jurors selected in murder trial for former deputy marshal charged in child's shooting

http://www.katc.com/story/34736403/murder-trial-opens-for-deputy-charged-in-childs-shooting

After a day of jury selection, six jurors were selected in the trial of former Marksville Deputy City Marshal Derrick Stafford.

The day began with motions from the defense.

Stafford's attorney, Jonathan Goins, asked the judge for a continuance in the case, citing that prosecutors didn't hand over all of the evidence in enough time to prepare for trial.

In court Monday, Goins argued that new 3-D crime scene reconstruction video and the use of a ballistics expert by the state were not made available to defense attorneys until the Friday night before trial, and that he would need more time to prepare.

Judge William Bennett agreed that the information was last minute, but he ultimately denied Goins' motion to continue the trial at a later date. The judge said that both the state and the defense had knowledge of all evidence for more than a year, which he determined to be sufficient time to prepare.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Stafford trial ends third day without jury selected

http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/2017/03/15/4-more-tentative-jurors-picked-stafford-case/99012950/

More tentative jurors were selected Wednesday for the Derrick Stafford murder trial, bringing the day's total to 11, but work will continue with a fresh slate of panelists on Thursday.

Both sides must agree on 12 jurors and two alternates before opening statements in the trial can begin. Stafford, a former Marksville Ward 2 deputy marshal accused of fatally shooting 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis and wounding his father in November 2015, faces a mandatory life sentence if found guilty of second-degree murder.

He also faces a charge of attempted second-degree murder.

Both sides also have 12 peremptory challenges, which allows them to dismiss potential jurors for any reason. So far, the state has used three of its challenges, and the defense has used nine.

Even after the 14 jurors and alternates are selected, either side can use back strikes that allow them to rescind their acceptance of any of the potential jurors.

It's not known when opening statements may begin in the high-profile case, but Bennett told those selected Wednesday morning to return to the courthouse at 9 a.m. Thursday.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Heated selection ends with 12 Stafford trial jurors

http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/2017/03/16/stafford-jury-selection-continues-thursday/99013606/

Twelve jurors were sworn in Thursday afternoon for the Derrick Stafford murder trial, but not before heated exchanges between attorneys for both sides and the presiding judge over accusations that people were being excluded because of race.

Opening statements in the case are expected on Monday morning because two alternates still must be chosen and sworn in on Friday.

Despite all the fireworks inside the courtroom, both the state and defense attorneys said that they were pleased with the makeup of the jury as they left for the day.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Change of venue denied, openings start Monday in Stafford trial

http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/2017/03/17/change-venue-denied-openings-start-monday-stafford-trial/99013888/

An agreement to accept two potential jurors as alternates led to a swift end Friday morning to five days of jury selection in the Derrick Stafford trial.

Both the state, represented by the Louisiana Attorney General's Office, and the defense have clashed over the potential jurors through what 12th Judicial District Judge William Bennett called "five days of a tedious voir dire process." But both sides agreed just after 10 a.m. to accept the last two of three who had been interviewed.

After those two were sworn in, Bennett told them to return on Monday morning. Opening statements are expected to start at 9 a.m., and the trial could take another five days.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

In opening statements, Louisiana officer's lawyer blames boy's dad for fatal shooting in Marksville

http://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/courts/article_c740b65e-0d65-11e7-b026-3bbb8ed583ae.html

An attorney for a Louisiana law enforcement officer charged with murder in a 6-year-old boy's shooting blames the child's father for the deadly confrontation.

A prosecutor told jurors on Monday that Derrick Stafford and another deputy marshal weren't in any danger when they fired a barrage of bullets at a car, killing Jeremy Mardis and critically wounding his father in Marksville on the night of Nov. 3, 2015.

But defense attorney Jonathan Goins said during opening statements for Stafford's trial that Jeremy's father, Christopher Few, led officers on a dangerous, high-speed chase and rammed into a deputy's vehicle before the shooting. Goins called Few as "the author of that child's fate."

The prosecutor said Few will testify he made "the biggest mistake of his life" when he didn't stop for the officers but had feared that he would lose custody of his son.

Father, body cam videos focus of first day in Stafford trial

http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/2017/03/20/jeremy-mardis-father-focus-trial-opening-statements/99397928/

The state called four people who testified about encounters they had with Stafford in his capacity as a Marksville Police Department officer, all alleging that he used excessive force. The same people also had testified in a previous hearing after the state asked for and received permission to use prior excessive force allegations against Stafford in his trial.

One was a nurse who had been shocked in her abdomen by Stafford while in handcuffs, only about three months after she gave birth and had had a tubal ligation; another, a man falsely accused of shooting his neighbor's dog who also was shocked by Stafford after he was in handcuffs; that man's wife who witnessed the incident with some of their children; and another man who had a chemical agent sprayed into his face by Stafford after he was handcuffed and being held on the ground.

The morning's testimony concluded with a lengthy audio presentation, recordings of some of the chase and dispatch traffic during and after it. At 10:57 p.m., the Avoyelles Parish coroner was notified about the shooting and was connected to Louisiana State Police, which already was moving in to take over the investigation.

When Dr. L.J. Mayeux was notified of Jeremy's death, he expressed disbelief.

"A 6-year-old that was shot to death?" he questioned. "Jesus Christ Almighty."

The other testimony during the afternoon centered on several body camera videos, including the one already made public last year. After Derbes started the video, the courtroom fell silent. One juror leaned forward to watch on a big screen television across from the jury box, while 12th Judicial District Court Judge William Bennett walked from his seat to get a better view.

As the video progressed, two jurors couldn't hide their emotional reactions. Candace Few cried, bowing her head and placing it on the shoulder of her mother, Samantha Few. When it was over, the two jurors wiped tears from their faces.

Two videos from Avoyelles Parish Sheriff's deputies who were wearing body cameras at the scene also were seen. Some of the comments gave insight into how some information made its way through the community in the days after the shooting, information that turned out to be incorrect.

The last witness to testify on Monday was Kenneth Parnell, who was a sergeant at the time of the shooting but now is a lieutenant with the Marksville Police Department. It was Parnell's body camera that captured the shooting, and he said he was traveling 25 to 30 mph as the chase went down Martin Luther King Drive.

Derbes asked Parnell if he was boxing Few in at the dead-end of Taensas Street and Martin Luther King Drive, but Parnell said no. He said he learned at the Alexandria Regional Police Academy to always leave "an out" for a suspect.

Derbes asked Parnell if he fired his weapon. "Absolutely not," he replied.

"Are you sure about that?" Derbes asked.

"One hundred percent," said Parnell.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/courts/article_17152718-0e61-11e7-8905-43e70e2a4363.html

For just over an hour in an upstairs Avoyelles Parish courtroom Tuesday, Christopher Few recounted the shockingly brief few minutes that shook his life: The burst of blue lights from a Marksville deputy marshal's patrol car behind him as he made a turn with his 6-year-old son buckled next to him, his decision not to pull over and the blinding hail of gunfire in which it ended.

Few, whose son, Jeremy Mardis, died in the gunfire, sat in the witness box just a few feet from former Lt. Derrick Stafford, now on trial for second-degree murder in the boy's death and attempted second-degree murder in Few's wounding, and laid out as best he could remember the details of that night.

Few said he never tried to run down any officers during the chase, and wasn't trying to evade or escape from the law when he refused to pull over the Kia Sportage he was driving.

"I had no delusion of … getting away from the police," Few said.

He said he refused to pull over because he was concerned what might happen to Jeremy, who was autistic, if he was arrested. Few said he'd had a couple of drinks earlier in the night with his then-girlfriend, Megan Dixon, and didn't know if he was legally drunk. He spotted her in a van ahead and tried to flag her down so she could take the boy to Few's mother's home.

At the end, Few said, he made a dead-end turn. He never heard commands from the officers until after they'd fired a volley of rounds — at least 18 — into the vehicle, critically wounding him and killing his son.

http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/2017/03/21/avoyelles-voinche-only-marshal-he-knew-quota-system/99453252/

Ronald Beeson, a criminal investigator with Louisiana State Police who retired after 27 years with the Alexandria Police Department, testified that he helped Avoyelles Parish Coroner Dr. L.J. Mayeux remove Jeremy's body from the front seat of the Kia Sportage that Few was driving.

Beeson also took photos of the crime scene that were shown to jurors and visible to those inside the gallery. They included graphic photos of Jeremy, his head tilted to the right and blood down the left side of his face and body. His maternal grandmother, Cathy Mardis, sobbed with her hands covering her face.

Beeson also testified that his investigation found the chase lasted for two miles and took four minutes, averaging about 30 mph.

In all, 13 people testified on Tuesday, and it's possible that the state — represented by the Louisiana Attorney General's Office — could rest on Wednesday. The Avoyelles Parish District Attorney's Office recused itself from the case days after Stafford and Greenhouse were arrested because Norris Greenhouse Sr. is an assistant in the office.

State Police Sgt. Angel Wiley testified that she saw Greenhouse Sr. within the crime scene on the night of the shooting when she arrived. Wiley supervises Region 3 detectives and had been called to the scene.

She said she saw law enforcement officers from many different agencies, including the DA's office, at the site. She remained at the scene until the next morning, but told Derbes that Stafford never gave her a reason for firing his Glock 22.

None of Tuesday's witnesses who were asked said Stafford spoke of a reason for firing, including Alexandria City Marshal Terence Grines.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/2017/03/22/stafford-trial-expert-says-collision-would-have-been-less-than-5-mph/99496164/

Jurors in the Derrick Stafford trial heard a lot of technical details Wednesday about the crime scene, ballistics and accident reconstruction, but the state wrapped its case in the afternoon by showing video of Jeremy Mardis walking hand-in-hand with his father only hours before his death.

Although a lot of the testimony was technical, there were some revelations throughout the day. Three of four projectiles taken from Jeremy during an autopsy — from his right armpit, left leg and right cheek — were matched to Stafford's gun, testified Michelle Cazes, a Louisiana State Police Crime Laboratory firearm examiner.

Two pieces of lead fragments taken from Jeremy's head could not be matched to any weapon because of their condition, she said.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Christopher Tape testified that the head wound Jeremy suffered was enough to cause his death, but that the official cause of the boy's death was "gunshot wounds to the head, body and extremities," he said.

The first witness of the day was Louisiana State Police Sgt. Howard Johnson, an accident reconstructionist. Accepted as an expert, Johnson testified that Few's Kia and the patrol unit driven by Greenhouse did collide that night, but he couldn't determine exactly how that happened, he told Louisiana Assistant Attorney General Matthew Derbes.

Johnson testified that he found evidence at the scene of a collision. Photos showed a short crack jutting up from the front of Greenhouse's vehicle, from where the grill meets the headlight, and a small piece of fiberglass that was missing.

On the Kia, there were scuff marks or a signs of a paint transfer on a hinge at the left rear where an arm folds to hold the spare tire. No other damage was found, Johnson testified.

There was about a 4-inch difference in height to the damage between the vehicles, but Johnson said that could be accounted for by either a weight shift in either vehicle or by a difference in road elevation. He testified that there was no way to determine if the collision happened because the Kia was braking or backing up.

But he testified that any impact happened at less than 5 mph. "Definitely less than 5 mph," he told Derbes.

Stafford's defense team of Jonathan Goins and Christopher LaCour have said their client's actions were done in self-defense and to protect others at the scene. They alleged that Few rammed the Kia into Greenhouse's patrol unit, using it as a weapon.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Chris Few's ex, Megan Dixon, testifies for defense in court

http://www.kalb.com/content/news/Chris-Fews-ex-Megan-Dixon-testifies-for-defense-in-court-416939333.html

Megan Dixon, Chris Few's ex-girlfriend talked about the night she and Few went to TJ's lounge and how Few got jealous that she was dancing with a bartender.

She said he threw his pool stick, so she said she told him she was leaving with her uncle's girlfriend.

Dixon said there was no altercation. Later she pulled up to her aunt's house where Jeremy was staying and saw Few pick him up. But, she kept driving.

That's when they both came to the same red light and her passengers told her he got out of the car and was walking toward them.

She said Few tried to get her out of the car, but she drove around him. Shortly after, she heard sirens and saw Greenhouse's unit try to pull him over, but he wouldn't stop. So, she drove off because her passengers didn't want to stop for him.

Dixon said she actually drove to the casino after that and didn't hear that the two were shot until the morning after.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Day four of Derrick Stafford's murder trial is over

http://www.katc.com/story/34983697/day-four-of-derrick-staffords-murder-trial-is-underway

Fifteen witnesses testified Thursday morning as Derrick Stafford's defense attorneys began making their case in the former deputy marshal's murder trial.

Some of the testimony, including that of Megan Dixon, who was Christopher Few's girlfriend the night of the shooting, and of another man who witnessed them at a bar that night, corroborated statements that Few had been acting angry and jealous toward his girlfriend moments before the police pursuit that led to Few's shooting and the death of his 6-year-old son, Jeremy Mardis.

Another witness, Michael DeSoto, stated he was a patron at TJ's Lounge when Dixon and Few walked in that night. He said he kept an eye on Few because his behavior seemed problematic from the moment they walked in.

"That's why I left," DeSoto testified.

But defense witnesses called to illustrate justified instances in which Stafford used non-lethal force against suspects seemed to fall apart upon cross-examination, when Assistant Attorney General John Sinquefield worked to paint each instance as a case of police abuse of force on suspects who were not causing any disturbance in the first place.

Once instance involved an incident after a July 4th celebration in Marksville, when a man refused to cross the street during crowd dispersal because he had dropped his keys. Multiple fights were going on in the area, but the man was not involved in them.

One of two officers who testified to the incident, former Marksville Police officer Chad Mayeaux, stated that Stafford ultimately tased the man to force compliance. Mayeaux said at least three officers ultimately got involved in the man's arrest, and that Stafford's use of a stun gun in the incident was justified because of the man's resistance.

"And you think you had to do all that because a guy wanted to pick up his keys?" Sinquefield questioned, warranting an audible response from the nearly two dozen spectators in the room.

Another officer was called to testify to a separate incident in which Stafford participated in subduing a woman who refused to give up her car for repossession. Someone had requested police assistance because they suspected the woman would resist.

At least 4-5 officers ultimately responded to the incident, according to Bunkie Police Capt. Lawrence Bordelon, and Stafford shocked the woman after she was handcuffed because she continued to resist as he tried to place her in the police unit.

Sinquefield asked Bordelon whether it was right to send "50,000 volts of electricity" into a single mother's body because she missed car payments.

"No, it's not right," Bordelon conceded.

"No, it's not right, and I appreciate you agreeing with me," Sinquefield responded, the audience reacting.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Stafford: I 'never in a million years' would have fired if known about Jeremy

http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/2017/03/24/stafford-never-million-years-would-have-fired-if-known-jeremy/99562546/

Derrick Stafford hadn't seen photos of 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis after the bullets from his own gun killed him, not until Friday morning when a prosecutor put them in front of him while he took the stand at his murder trial.

"Do those photos show you what a 40-caliber Glock will do to a little boy?" Louisiana Assistant Attorney General John Sinquefield asked Stafford as he wrapped a sometimes contentious cross examination that also saw defense attorney Jonathan Goins make two motions for a mistrial.

Sinquefield tried to get Stafford to admit several times that he shot and killed Jeremy.

"When you shot, did you kill him?" he asked.

"Not intentionally," said Stafford. "I never knew a child was in there."

He also said that he "never in a million years" would have fired on the Kia if he had known the boy was inside. Sinquefield asked him if he ever considered the possibility that someone else was inside the Kia, but Stafford said he couldn't see anyone else but Few.

"If y'all were in so much danger, how did all the bullets end up on the side of the vehicle?" he asked.

Stafford testified that he never saw Few's hands raised up and that he didn't shoot to kill. He said repeatedly that he only shot to stop the threat, and that he believed Few intended to either run into some nearby woods, attack them or surrender.

Sinquefield asked Stafford if he had watched the body camera video recorded by a Marksville Police Department officer.

"I lived it," he said. "I didn't have to watch it."

When Stafford spoke to answer Goins' questions, his voice cracked. Then, when Goins asked how seeing the photos of Jeremy made him feel, Stafford said it made him think of his own children. He asked Bennett something before turning back to the jurors for more.

"It makes me feel like *****," said Stafford.

Also testifying Friday morning was the defense's accident reconstructionist expert, which criticized the methods of his Louisiana State Police counterparts.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Marksville deputy marshal Derrick Stafford found guilty in shooting death of 6-year-old

http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/courts/article_e58913fc-10cd-11e7-b200-87f393ed2123.html

An Avoyelles Parish jury convicted a former Marksville deputy marshal of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter in a shooting at the end of a chase that left a 6-year-old boy dead and the boy's father seriously wounded.

Derrick Stafford, a 33-year-old former Marksville police officer and part-time city marshal, left the courthouse in shackles after the jury returned to the courtroom to announce their verdict by a 10-2 vote following nearly three hours of deliberation.

Stafford's conviction came just hours after he took the stand in his own defense, telling jurors Friday morning how he never saw the boy in the passenger seat of his father's Kia and how he only opened fire in self defense.

Outside the courthouse Friday night, Stafford's attorneys expressed some relief that he wouldn't be facing the mandatory life sentence that accompanies a murder conviction in Louisiana. But Christopher LaCour, one of Stafford's attorneys, decried the lack of support Stafford received from other law enforcement officers.

"I saw an officer on trial and no officers supported him at all," LaCour told reporters. "You think they'd stand up for the man and they didn't."

http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/2017/03/24/stafford-never-million-years-would-have-fired-if-known-jeremy/99562546/

Stafford will be sentenced Thursday afternoon after an Avoyelles Parish jury found him guilty on both counts, both by a 10-2 vote, in the Nov. 3, 2015, shooting death of 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis and the serious wounding of his father, Christopher Few, as he moonlighted as a Marksvile Ward 2 deputy marshal.

Nobody from the victims' families spoke to the media after the verdicts, but one of Stafford's sisters did. "I ain't got nothing for Marksville," she said moments after her brother was taken from the Avoyelles Parish Courthouse to the Avoyelles Parish Detention Center.

"Poor little Jeremy. My heart goes out to the families," she said. "But the animal that Facebook, you news reporters, them people, the jury, that y'all tried to make my brother be, he's not that type of person."

Stafford's other defense attorney, Jonathan Goins, said the team would be filing for a post-conviction bond so that he could get out of jail before being sentenced Thursday. Then, he said, they would begin an appeal of Stafford's convictions.

The state team of Louisiana assistant attorneys general John Sinquefield and Matthew Derbes emerged from the courthouse first, and Sinquefield said he thanked the jurors for their service.

"We would say that tonight, we did get justice for Jeremy," said Sinquefield.

He called the whole case a tragedy. He said the convictions still carry serious sentences. Derbes said manslaughter carries a sentence of up to 40 years, but that it would be a mandatory minimum of 20 years and maximum of 40 years because a firearm was used. For attempted manslaughter, that is a maximum of 20 years.