On a tragic day in June, a beloved husband, father, and grandfather was senselessly taken from his family. Nicky Robeau, a 57-year-old male from Harahan, Louisiana, was fatally shot on June 18, 2019, while driving in a vehicle on West Metairie Avenue. He and his friend, 45-year-old Manuel Caronia, were out to pick up a car part for one of Robeau's daughters when the unthinkable happened.
The two men were victims of a random act of violence, part of a deadly shooting spree that terrorized the community.
The man responsible for this string of violent attacks was Sean Barrette. Over a period in June 2019, Barrette engaged in four random shootings in East Jefferson, targeting strangers and leaving a trail of death and injury. The day before killing Robeau and Caronia, he had murdered 22-year-old Isia Francisco Cadalzo-Sevilla in a separate roadside attack. His violent acts also included the attempted murder of three other individuals and property damage. For the families of the victims, the sudden and brutal loss was a nightmare from which they couldn't wake. Robeau was remembered by his family as a hardworking and devoted man whose main goal in life was to ensure his wife and three daughters were cared for.
Following an investigation, authorities apprehended Sean Barrette. The legal process that followed was arduous for the victims' families. At one point in November 2020, Barrette was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial, causing further distress to Robeau's family who sought justice for his murder. However, the case did eventually proceed to trial.
Ultimately, a Jefferson Parish judge convicted Barrette on eight counts related to the random shootings. He was sentenced to three life sentences plus an additional 180 years in prison, with the sentences to be served consecutively. For the first-degree murder of Nicky Robeau, Barrette received a life sentence without the possibility of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. During the emotional sentencing, Robeau's daughters described the killer as a 'coward' who 'hunted people down like they were prey.'
