In the summer of 2019, a tragedy unfolded in a quiet home in Zachary, Louisiana, ending the life of a beloved mother and dedicated nurse. LaShan Lacey, a 41-year-old female, was found shot to death in her residence on Cordoba Drive on Saturday, July 20, 2019. Her death, which authorities quickly determined to be a homicide, was the result of a domestic violence incident.
Deputies from the East Feliciana Sheriff's Office were called to the scene at approximately 4:30 p.m.
and discovered Lacey deceased inside her home. The investigation swiftly pointed to a suspect, 35-year-old Ernest Howard, with whom Lacey had previously been in a relationship. Within just four hours of the initial report, investigators had located and taken Howard into custody for questioning.
During the interrogation, Ernest Howard confessed to shooting LaShan Lacey after an altercation between the two. His confession provided a grim resolution to the initial phase of the investigation. Following his arrest, the legal process moved forward, culminating in a guilty plea from Howard for the murder of his former partner.
In February 2022, nearly three years after he took LaShan Lacey's life, Ernest Howard was sentenced for his crime. He pleaded guilty to the July 2019 murder and received a sentence of life in prison with hard labor, without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. This sentence brought a measure of finality to a case that had tragically cut short the life of a woman remembered as a devoted mother to her three children and a compassionate registered nurse working in the mental health field.
