A Lafayette Parish grand jury has handed up eight murder indictments in five different deaths.
Three men were indicted on second-degree murder charges in the July 2022 slaying of Billy Nel Joseph, 40, of Lafayette.
The grand jury indicted Artimus James Johnson, 55; John Fitzgerald Christian, 39 and Steve Anthony Solomon, 39, all of Lafayette in Joseph's shooting death. They're each accused of first-degree murder.
Joseph died on July 23, 2022 in his car near the intersection of Moss Street and Mudd Avenue. At the time police described the incident as a drive-by shooting, ending with one vehicle striking a pole.
In another case, the grand jury indicted two men in connection with the May 2020 death of Telvis Benjamin.
Jacoldy J. Fox, 32, and Nathan Ray Carter, 41, were both indicted on a charge of second-degree murder.
Benjamin, 26, died in May 2020 after he was shot on Joan Street in Lafayette. Police found Benjamin wounded after receiving a report of a shooting, but he died at the hospital. Our media partners at The Advocate interviewed his family about arrests in the case, which came two years after his death. To read their story, click here.
In a third case, the grand jury indicted Brandon Scott Miller, 32, on a charge of second-degree murder in connection with the November 2021 death of Hunter George Leblanc, 29.
The grand jury also indicted Dominick Curole, 18, on a charge of first-degree murder of a minor who the grand jury did not identify. The child died August 31, 2022.
And in the fifth case, the grand jury indicted Christopher Ledet, Jr., 24, on a charge of second-degree murder in connection with the July 2022 death of Kaceston Freeman, 2, of New Iberia.
