A Lafayette grand jury has handed up an indictment in the October 2021 slaying of a local woman.
Denise Williams was shot to death last fall on Essie Street, police said at the time.
Brian Keith Babineaux, 53, was indicted on a charge of second-degree murder.
At the time, police said they were called to the 100 block of Essie Street at about 9:15 p.m. They thought they were responding to a medical emergency, then found a woman suffering from a gunshot wound. Williams died at a local hospital.
Witnesses said that she responded to a knock on the door and she was shot.
Records at the Lafayette jail indicate Babineaux has been in jail since October; his bond is set at $825,000 but will have to be reset following this indictment. The records also show that, at the time of the incident, Babineaux also was booked with a charge of violation of a protective order.
If convicted of second-degree murder, Babineaux faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole, probation or suspension of sentence.
