An appeals court has rejected the remainder of a Texas man's appeal of his conviction and sentence in connection with a boxer's 2018 slaying.
In 2023, the Third Circuit Court of Appealthrew out the murder conspiracy conviction of Carlos Anthony Toby in the slaying of local boxer Brandon Broussard. But in October, the state Supreme Court reversed that ruling, reinstated the conviction and sent the remainder of the appeal back to the lower court.
The Third Circuit orginally threw out the conviction based on Toby's argument that there wasn't enough evidence to convict him, and didn't look at his other arguments. The Supreme Court said the Third Circuit was wrong about the conviction, reinstated it and then sent those other arguments back for review.
The Third Circuit has now looked at those other arguments and said they don't have any merit.
That means that, as of now, his conviction stands, as does his 25-year sentence. We've reached out to his attorneys to see if they have any comment on this development.
Toby was one of two brothers indicted in the shooting death of Broussard; he and his brother, Shavis Breon Toby, were indicted in 2018 for Broussard's death. At that time, both were charged with second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder. At trial, Shavis was convicted on both counts and Carlos was convicted of conspiracy.
The shooting happened late at night on Grossie Lane. Lafayette Parish Sheriff's deputies found Broussard suffering from gunshot wounds; he was transported to a hospital but did not survive. Broussard was known as "King Tut" and had boxed professionally for several years.
According to the 2024 Supreme Court ruling, Broussard was shot and killed in his girlfriend's driveway. The allegation was that Carlos Toby had also dated that person, and that he and Broussard had a fight in a Lafayette nightclub two weeks prior to the day Broussard died. Prosecutors' theory was that the brothers planned the slaying but it was Shavis who carried it out.
Neither of the brothers lived in Lafayette, but cell phone data showed that Carlos drove to Lafayette from Texas on the date of the shooting, and his brother drove in from New Iberia. Cell phone data placed Carlos near Willow Street when the shooting happened, but data and surveillance video placed Shavis' phone and a vehicle like his near the crime scene, the ruling states. DNA from part of a latex glove found at the scene matched to Shavis.
