In a tragic incident on June 23, 2021, 47-year-old Rachelle Arceneaux Hills, a female resident of Opelousas, Louisiana, was fatally shot in her home. The brutal act was carried out by her husband, Derrick T. Hills, who used an AK-47 style rifle to shoot her multiple times. The violence unfolded in their residence on East Prudhomme Street, horrifically, while Arceneaux's daughter and grandson were also present in the house.
Following the shooting, a neighbor who heard the gunshots ran to
the nearby St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office Public Safety Complex to alert deputies. When law enforcement arrived at the scene, they found Rachelle Arceneaux Hills deceased from three gunshot wounds. Video evidence later presented in court captured Derrick Hills leaving the home with the murder weapon in hand and fleeing in his wife's truck. He drove to his brother's house in Alexandria, and several hours later, he turned himself in to the Rapides Parish authorities.
Derrick T. Hills was subsequently charged with the murder of his wife. After a trial in St. Landry Parish, it took the jury just over 30 minutes of deliberation to find him guilty of second-degree murder. On July 13, 2023, he was sentenced by District Judge Gerard Caswell to life in prison without the possibility of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence, ensuring he would spend the remainder of his life incarcerated for the murder of his wife, Rachelle Arceneaux Hills.
