A jury has convicted two brothers on murder charges in connection with the July 2022 slaying of a teenager at an Abbeville apartment complex.
Jazaylon Levy, 18, died July 14 after being shot at the Stone Bridge Apartment complex on Rodeo Drive. Law enforcement officers found him suffering from a gunshot wound, and he was pronounced dead at the hospital.
On Wednesday, a jury convicted Donald Briggs III, 26, and Stefan Briggs, 21, of second-degree murder in his slaying.
During the trial, Prosecutor Calvin E. Woodruff, Jr. presented video evidence to the jury of the two defendants entering and leaving an Abbeville Wal-Mart shortly before the shooting, then video of the two defendants at a Delcambre convenience store shortly after the shooting, a release from the District Attorney's office states.
Other video evidence showed the defendant’s vehicle leaving the scene immediately after the shooting took place and witnesses testified at trial about the Briggs arriving at the apartment complex in a silver Mercedes Benz, and about both of the defendants arriving at the Delcambre convenience store less than twenty minutes after the shooting, the release states.
Levy had recently moved to Abbeville, and law enforcement believed he was not the intended target of the Briggs shooting, but that he was an innocent bystander.
“This was an effort of tremendous teamwork between the DA’s office and law enforcement, and we had a jury that was willing to look at all the evidence and deal with it properly,” said Woodruff.
Sentencing was set by Judge Thomas Frederick for Monday, October 16, 2023.
