A St. Landry Parish jury has convicted a man on five counts in connection with a 2020 slaying.
Sanplice Simien, 48, of Palmetto, was convicted of two counts first-degree murder and three counts attempted first-degree murder.
The convictions were for the slayings of Michael Thomas and Ladarious Keller, and the attempted slaying of three other young men.
The incident happened in October 2020, when five young men were sitting in a truck on Cook Street in Morrow. Simien allegedly approached the truck from the driver's side and opened fire with a handgun in each hand.
"We are grateful the jury brought justice and some peace to these families for these violent killings," said District Attorney Chad Pitre.
Chief felony prosecutor Alisa Gothreaux prosecuted the case.
Louisiana has a mandatory sentence of life in prison without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence for a first-degree murder conviction, and 10 to 50 years on each attempted first-degree murder charge.
Sentencing was set for May 8.
At the time of the incident, St. Landry Parish Sheriff's deputies told us that they were called to the scene and found Thomas' body in the truck.
Detectives said that Thomas was involved in a heated argument with Simien days before the shooting. Additionally, they say that Simien was robbed in the Morrow area by Thomas at gunpoint days prior while an unknown individual removed $1,200 - $1,400 from Simien’s back pants pocket.
Deputies described the incident at the pick-up truck as an ambush, and said they were able to place Simien near the scene of the shooting during the course of their investigation.
When Sanplice neared the vehicle, investigators say, he began shooting at the unsuspecting victims and he then fled the area. Thomas died at the scene. A nearby resident took two of the wounded men to a local hospital, where Keller died.
