A Vinton man accused in the slaying of an Orange County couple was convicted after a trial last week, 12NEWS is reporting.
The Orange County jury found Manka Alonzo Melson, 25, guilty after a trial that began last Monday.
Melson was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Aaliyah Paris Gradnigo, 18, and Thalamus Livings, 23, of Orange. Livings grew up in Acadiana, relatives tell KATC.
Melson has been held on $2 million in bonds in the Orange County Jail since he was arrested nearly a month after the killings.
In court, the prosecution said that Melson sent thousands of texts to Gradnigo before the murder took place.
Manka Alonzo Melson, 25, of Vinton, La, is taken to court Friday morning before being found guilty in the 2021 murder of an Orange County couple, the station reports.
The trial was before Judge Rex Peveto. in Orange County's 163rd District Court, the station reports.
More than a year ago, officers responded to the 2300 block of Coronado Place around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 23, after the reported shooting.
When officers arrived at the home, they found the couple with gunshot wounds. Livings was pronounced dead at the scene, and Gradnigo was taken to a nearby hospital where she later died due to her gunshot wound, 12NEWS reports.
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