A Lafayette Parish grand jury handed up indictments in three separate slayings yesterday.
Two men were indicted in connection with an April 2022 incident on Interstate 10 that left a Lafayette man dead.
Khadarian Simmons, 18, of St. Martinville, and Kendrick Jones, 18, of Houston were each indicted on one count of second-degree murder and two counts attempted second-degree murder in the case.
The incident happened on a Monday morning at about 2 a.m. Austin Granger, 23, died and two other people were hospitalized with gunshot wounds. They were brought to a local hospital, and deputies were called there.
In another case, a Longview, Texas woman was indicted on a murder charge in connection with the May 2022 slaying of Lavar Dane Paul Manuel, 43, in a Guidry Street home.
Destiny Leanne McAfee was indicted on a charge of second-degree murder in connection with the slaying. At the time, police told us that Manuel was involved in a domestic altercation with McAfee that led to the slaying.
And, a Breaux Bridge pair were indicted on murder charges in connection with the March 2022 death of a toddler.
Brooke Blanchard, 23, and Brady LeBlanc, 23, were each indicted on a charge of second-degree murder of the one-year-old child who died in March. At the time, deputies told us that they were called to the 100 block of Resha Road and found an unresponsive child at about 5:30 a.m. on a Sunday. The baby was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
