On a late summer evening in 2019, the life of Dalton Edward McQuillin, a 24-year-old Caucasian male, was tragically cut short. On August 12, at approximately 8:17 p.m., deputies responded to a 911 call reporting a shooting in a quiet area near Chestnut, in north Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Upon arrival at the residence on Weaver Cemetery Road, law enforcement discovered McQuillin in the front yard with a single, life-threatening gunshot wound to his head.
Despite the efforts of first responders, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation into the shooting quickly led to a suspect who was present at the location. Robert Eugene Vascocu, a 66-year-old man from the same rural community, was taken into custody at the scene. Detectives learned that the fatal encounter stemmed from an ongoing and contentious child custody dispute involving McQuillin and Vascocu's granddaughter. The conflict reached its devastating climax that evening, resulting in the fatal shooting. The suspected murder weapon was also recovered by investigators who worked through the night processing the scene and gathering evidence.
Initially, Robert Eugene Vascocu was arrested and charged with one count of second-degree murder. However, the legal proceedings took a different course when a grand jury later indicted him on the lesser charge of negligent homicide. In December 2021, Vascocu chose to plead guilty to the negligent homicide charge. There was no plea agreement in place regarding his sentence.
In January 2022, a judge sentenced Vascocu to the maximum penalty allowed for the conviction: five years of incarceration at hard labor and a $5,000 fine. The court noted that while the facts could have supported a more severe charge like manslaughter, the grand jury's indictment for negligent homicide significantly reduced his potential sentence. Vascocu later filed a motion to have his sentence reconsidered, but the court upheld the original maximum sentence.
