On a Tuesday in September of 2017, 66-year-old Carroll Glynn Breeden Sr. was doing yard work at his home in Pride, Louisiana, a place he had lived his entire life. Inside the house, his wife, D'Ann, heard two loud gunshots. When she went outside to investigate, she found her husband on the ground near the street, bleeding from his back. Carroll Breeden, a former BREC Commissioner, was pronounced dead at the scene on that day, September 19, 2017.
The investigation into the seemingly
random act of violence soon uncovered a pattern of similar shootings that had been terrorizing parts of South Louisiana between July and October of that year. The man responsible was identified as Ryan Sharpe. Sharpe’s string of violence included the killing of Brad DeFranceschi and Tommy Bass, and the attempted murder of Buck Hornsby. When questioned by investigators, Sharpe made bizarre claims that he believed federal agents had provided him with 'hunting tags' and a quota to kill people. His alleged targets were white men with facial hair.
After his arrest, the legal proceedings for the murder of Carroll Breeden were fraught with delays. For years, the Breeden family attended numerous court hearings as Sharpe's competency to stand trial was repeatedly evaluated. Despite pleading not guilty by reason of insanity, he was ultimately deemed competent. In November 2025, nearly eight years after the shooting, Ryan Sharpe's trial for the second-degree murder of Carroll Breeden commenced.
The jury took only about 30 minutes to deliberate before returning a guilty verdict. For the murder of Carroll Breeden, Ryan Sharpe received a second life sentence, to be served on top of the life sentence he was already serving for the murder of Brad DeFranceschi in East Feliciana Parish. During the sentencing, Breeden's children gave emotional statements, finally closing a long and painful chapter for their family.
