As we move from the heat of summer to the brisk cooler days of fall, I note with great satisfaction of our office’s jury trial success and that we continue to lead the state in jury trials, despite having only five judges that hear criminal matters, and that the early truancy numbers appear to be back to pre-pandemic levels.
We also look forward with anticipation to continuing this trend in October, with community observances of law and order getting the month off to a good start.
This past Saturday, to start the month, a handful of local attorneys helped us mark Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Shreveport-Bossier City through the first “Lawyers Lighting up the Night Against Domestic Violence!” with dramatic purple lighting of the the Bakowski Bridge throughout the month. Attorneys sponsoring the bridge lighting are Jacqueline Scott, Trey Morris, H. Lyn Lawrence Jr., Ronald J. Miciotto, Holland Miciotto, Shante Y. R. Wells, Alex Washington, Courtney N. Harris, Ebony Norris, Scott J. Chafin Jr., Eric G. Johnson, Todd M. Johnson and our own Assistant District Attorney Ron Christopher Stamps.
And on Tuesday, October 4, the community — including this office — will observe National Night Out. Our office is a sponsor at the event at Winnfield Funeral Home, 3701 Hollywood Avenue, from 6 to 9 p.m. There will be free food and entertainment for all at Winnfield, and at several neighborhood get-togethers throughout the parish that I will stop by. I look forward to seeing and talking to you all.
Here are some trial highlights from September:
Assistant District Attorney Victoria Washington, working with fellow ADA Kodie Smith, secured guilty verdicts in a case involving second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault with a firearm on Shreveport teen Derion Deshun Jamison. Jamison, 19, shot two people at a west Shreveport motel in July 2020, killing one, will serve at least 85 years in prison at hard labor, after his sentencing September 12, 2022. Jamison was found guilty of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault by a firearm in Judge Chris Victory’s court August 24, 2022, and must serve 50 years at hard labor for the attempted murder and 10 years at hard labor for the assault. He was sentenced to life in prison for the murder but due to his being under age 18 at the time of the slaying, he may be parole eligible after serving 25 years. The sentences are to be serve consecutively.
The shootings occurred July 19, 2020, at the Country Inn Suites hotel on Hollywood Avenue near Shreveport Regional Airport.
Also in September, ADAs Courtney Ray and Bryce Kinley, in his first jury trial, secured a guilty verdict in a case involving aggravated second-degree battery against Patrick Adams.
Adams, 48, stabbed another man, in the face following an altercation in 2019. The trial concluded September 13, 2022, in Judge Donald Hathaway Jr.’s court. The July 2019 attack on the victim at a local tire repair shop left the victim with substantial blood loss, facial scarring, nerve damage and the loss of two teeth. Adams, involved in a dispute with two women, jumped into the back of the victim’s vehicle and stabbed the victim who sat in the driver’s seat. The attack was witnessed by several people and also was capture in shop surveillance video.
Also on September 13, ADAs Ross Owen and Erica Jefferson scored a guilty verdict in a case involving violation of a protective order third offense and possession of methamphetamine. Jimmy Kuykendall, 59, who violated a protective order regarding a Greenwood woman while possessing illegal drugs, was convicted in Judge Erin Leigh Waddell Garrett’s courtroom. He was arrested January 23 while parked in a vehicle outside a Greenwood residence, the home of a female acquaintance with a standing protective order involving him. The victim reported she also had seen Kuykendall parked in her driveway, and that she had received a voicemail from him that day. Responding officers recovered a glass-smoking pipe, commonly used with illegal narcotics, and a baggie of methamphetamine in Kuykendall’s front pants pocket. Officers also recovered a cigarette pack containing suspected methamphetamine from Kuykendall’s vehicle.
Kuykendall was previously arrested for violation of a protective order July 23, 2021 and was convicted of that on September 29, 2021. He was arrested again for violation of a protective order, 2nd offense October 19, 2021, and was convicted of that on December 13, 2021.
For violation of a protective order, third offense, he faces imprisonment for as few as 14 days or as much as two years with or without hard labor, and a fine of up to $1,000. On the drug conviction, he faces 1 to 5 years in prison with or without hard labor, and a fine of up to $5,000. He is to return to Judge Waddell Garrett’s courtroom October 21 for sentencing.
ADAs Bill Edwards, Mekisha Smith Creal and Sam Crichton secured guilty-as-charged verdicts for first-degree murder on Dewayne Willie Watkins. Watkins, 37, was found guilty September 14 for the 2018 kidnapping and first-degree murder of Shreveport couple Heather and Kelly Dean Jose, who were abducted, killed and found burned almost beyond recognition November 8, 2018. Watkins was arrested several days after the slayings following a six-hour standoff with police.
Watkins faces mandatory life sentences when he returns to Judge Mosely’s court for sentencing October 19.
These successes belie the fact that our office is now two ADA positions short, so we offer opportunity to any interested attorney seeking the challenge of fighting crime in our parish to please apply.
I also continue to hold juveniles accountable for heinous actions against peace and order in Caddo Parish. Two teens involved in an August armed robbery at the Villa Norte Apartments in north Shreveport will be tried as adults. Aareon DeShawn McKinney, 17, and Kevin A. Player, 16, will be charged as adults for attempted second-degree murder, due to shots being fired at a victim in connection with an August 30, 2022 armed robbery. Their fellow juvenile co-defendants who did not have guns will be tried at juvenile court this month.
The teens can be tried as adults under provisions of Louisiana Children’s Code Article 305, which allows a District Attorney to have jurisdiction of certain juvenile offenders age 15 or older transferred to District Court. The two are being held at Caddo Correctional Center pending their trials.
A man who committed sex crimes against tender-age children decades ago pleaded guilty to the crimes before his trial was to have begun September 26 in Caddo District Judge John D. Mosely Jr.’s courtroom.
Shreveporter Glenn Miller, 67, admitted to two counts of attempted aggravated rape for numerous acts that occurred from 1994 to 1996, but were of such a violent nature that the traumatized victim was unable to report the attacks until 2019. Upon investigation, authorities learned of sex crimes committed against another child under age 12.
Miller was sentenced by Judge Mosely to two concurrent 25-year terms in prison, to be served without the possibility of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. The plea was taken with the consent and input of the victim.
Miller was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Ron Christopher Stamps and Britney A. Green, with the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Special Victims Unit.
Lastly, the Caddo Parish Grand Jury handed up indictments with regard to a pair of recent murders, including one of a local teen, and sex crimes.
In its session ending September 22, the Jury indicted Shreveporters Kenmiccael Dano Ray and Andrew Adaway with second-degree murder in connection with separate murders this year.
Ray, 23, is charged in connection with the May 1, 2022 death of Landry Faith Anglin, a 13-year-old girl struck by a stray bullet while playing in a residence on Fairfield Avenue.
Adaway, 35, is charged in connection with the June 20, 2022 beating death of 72-year-old Bobbie Young. Adaway and Young were both being held at the Shreveport City Jail when the beating occurred.
In the sex-crime indictments, Christopher Thomas, 38, of Shreveport, is charged with two counts of aggravated rape and molestation of a juvenile, while Tremayne Haas, 40, also of Shreveport, is charged with first-degree rape. Due to the nature of the crimes, both indictments were filed under seal.
We have been busy bringing criminals to justice. And remember that for each jury trial, there are numerous court dates involving procedural issues, motions, admission of evidence and testimony, sanity hearings and arguments and hearings. There are also hundreds of other cases each month with each of the five criminal courts and judges that resolve in plea acceptances and sentences.
I also am pleased and want to note to you that the school board is reporting preliminarily that our stepped up truancy efforts as a result of last year’s troubling post-pandemic truancy spike are working, and truancy numbers – though incomplete – appear to be back to pre-pandemic levels. Our aggressive efforts to get children in school will continue, and I thank our school principals and clerks, Volunteers for Youth Justice, and Shreveport City Marshal James Jefferson whose deputies are knocking on doors, for their cooperation in our efforts.
Please also remember that school zones are in effect, and that speeding in school zone violations are strictly enforced by this office. There is nothing more important to me than the safety of our children.
At your service, as always,
James E. Stewart, Sr.
Caddo Parish District Attorney
Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office | September 2022