A Lafayette Parish jury has convicted a Carencro man of murder and other charges in connection with the January 2023 death of a seven-year-old girl.
Daniel James Boudreaux Jr., 51, was convicted this week.
The child, identified by prosecutors only by her initials, died of acute fentanyl toxicity. Police were called tot he 400 block of Rue des Etoiles where they found the child unresponsive. After she died, an autopsy found her cause of death; the amount of fentanyl in her system was enough to kill a grown man, prosecutors said.
Police initially booked Boudreaux with negligent homicide, but a grand jury indicted him on a charge of second-degree murder. The jury convicted him on that charge, as well as second-degree cruelty to a juvenile and possession with intent to distribute drugs.
A second-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. On the cruelty charge and the drug charge, he faces up to 40 years each. His sentencing is set for September 8.
Assistant District Attorney Chase Edwards prosecuted the case, along with ADAs Stephen Williams and Holden Hoggatt. The prosecution team included more than 20 members of the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office Juvenile Detectives including case agent Detective Nathanial Perry, SWAT, Narcotics Division, and Evidence Custodians, as well as Forensic Chemists from the Acadiana Crime Lab.
