A Vermilion Parish jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict against Jalen Juwan Levine on Thursday, August 10, 2023 in a case involving the first-degree murder of a 14-year-old and the attempted first-degree murder of another juvenile.
Abbeville Police Department Sgt. Ryan Boutte led the investigation, which began when a local resident heard multiple gunshots in the area of Vernon and Schlessinger Streets in Abbeville just after 8:00 p.m. on December 19, 2017.
The 14-year-old died from multiple gunshot wounds just before 10:00 pm that same night after being transported to Lafayette General Hospital.
Deputies with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office located Levine during a traffic stop just after midnight on December 20, 2017 and arrested him.
Assistant District Attorney Celeste White prosecuted the case and gave credit to lead detective Ryan Boutte and Det. Leland Laseter for conducting the complex investigation.
“We need to commend all the officers who worked this case and then worked this month to prepare for and go through this trial. I am so happy that our office could finally give the parents justice for their son and grandson,” said ADA White.
“This is just another of many great cases that our law enforcement agencies sent us to prosecute, and we want to commend them for their work. I also want to commend our Vermilion Parish DA’s office for their persistence and working so hard on this case to make sure justice was served for the victim’s family,” said District Attorney Don Landry.
District Judge Thomas Frederick will sentence Levine in November after a pre-sentence investigation has been submitted. Levine faces mandatory life without parole on the first-degree murder conviction, and up to fifty years on the attempted first degree murder charge.
