NewsLocal NewsIn Your ParishAcadia Parish

Actions

Four teens indicted in slaying of 15-year-old

Vontre Phillips.jpg
Posted at 1:36 PM, Mar 16, 2021
and last updated 2021-03-16 14:36:57-04

Four Crowley teenagers have been indicted in connection with the August 2020 slaying of Vontre Phillips.

Phillips, 15, died when someone fired a gun into his bedroom on Harry Fuselier Street.

On Tuesday, an Acadia Parish grand jury handed up indictments against four people:

  • Deondre Felix, 19, of Crowley was indicted on a charge of principal to first-degree murder.
  • Davone Joseph, 19, of Crowley, was indicted on a charge of principal to first-degree murder.

The other two, both 18 and from Crowley, have not yet been arrested and police asked us not to release their names at this time. One was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder and the other on a charge of principal to first-degree murder.

Under Louisiana law, conviction on a "principal" charge means someone helped someone else commit the crime n some way. It's what might be described as an "accomplice" charge. If convicted of principal to second-degree murder, a person could receive the same sentence as someone convicted of first-degree murder: life in prison with no probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Joseph also was indicted in another case today. He's accused of attempted first-degree murder in another shooting. Read about that here.