On a December evening in Opelousas, Louisiana, the life of Darrell Wheeler Jr., a 25-year-old African American male, was tragically cut short. On December 19, 2020, Wheeler was sitting in his parked vehicle in the 600 block of Patsy Street when he was fatally shot in the head. The Opelousas Police Department responded to the scene and launched an investigation into the homicide.
The investigation led authorities to identify 25-year-old Eddie Stagg Jr., another resident of Opelousas, as
the primary suspect in the shooting. Ten days after the incident, on December 29, 2020, Stagg was arrested and subsequently charged with the second-degree murder of Darrell Wheeler Jr. The charges against him didn't end there. Investigators also accused Stagg of the attempted second-degree murder of another individual, Cleveland Roberts, who was standing in the front yard of a residence on Patsy Street at the time of the shooting. Evidence presented during the legal proceedings indicated that after shooting Wheeler, Stagg turned his weapon and fired at Roberts.
In April 2023, Eddie Stagg Jr. stood trial for the charges brought against him. After a four-day trial, a St. Landry Parish jury delivered a unanimous verdict, finding him guilty on all counts. He was convicted of the second-degree murder of Darrell Wheeler Jr., the attempted second-degree murder of Cleveland Roberts, and illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Following the conviction, on April 27, 2023, a district judge handed down the mandatory sentence for second-degree murder: life in prison without the possibility of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.
