UPDATE: Yesterday, Lafayette Police arrested a mother and father in connection with the death of their 2-month-old daughter after she and her twin brother were taken to a hospital with severe injuries.
We’ve checked the Lafayette Clerk of Court records and found the father, Dwayne E. Richard, has three convictions for domestic violence.
In 2016, he was charged in a bill of information with one count domestic abuse with a child present, in connection with a February 2016 incident against a woman. In that case, he pleaded guilty to an amended charge of domestic abuse battery, and got a 30-day jail sentence.
In January 2018, two bills of information were filed against Richard. One was for an incident involving the same woman that happened in June 2017, and one was for an incident involving the same woman that happened in November 2017. In the June case, he was charged with domestic abuse battery, second offense. In the November case, he was charged with domestic abuse battery with a child present, second offense and resisting arrest.
About a week after the November incident, a protective order was put in place, which forbade Richard from contacting or going near the woman involved in all three cases. That woman is not the mother who was arrested yesterday, Ayana Ladelle. That protective order was ordered dissolved last week, court records show.
In the June 2017 case, he pleaded guilty to the bill, and was sentenced to eight months in prison.
In the November 2017 case, he pleaded guilty to the domestic abuse battery charge, and the resisting charge was dismissed, records show. He was sentenced to eight months in prison, to run at the same time as the sentence in the June 2017 case.
Here’s the original story:
The parents of a 2-month-old have been arrested following an investigation into the child’s death.
On April 1, 2019, Juvenile Detectives with the Lafayette Police Department placed the mother 23-year-old Ayana N. Ladelle of Lafayette and the father 24-year-old Dwayne E. Richard of Mandeville under arrest following an investigation into the death of their daughter.
Lafayette Police say the Department of Child and Family Services contacted officers following an investigation in the 200 block of Jeffery Drive.
In that investigation, a 2-month-old male and female, twins, were brought to a local hospital suffering from severe injuries, according to police. The female twin succumbed to her injuries on March 30, 2019.
Ladelle and Richard were arrested in the child’s death.
Both have been charged with one count of 1st Degree Murder and one count of 2nd Degree Cruelty to Juveniles. They have been transported to the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center for booking.
An investigation remains on-going.
