On a summer evening in Lake Charles, Louisiana, 24-year-old Joshua Touchet was fatally shot on July 22, 2017, at the Twelve Palms RV Park on Broad Street. The incident began when two men first robbed another individual, Clinton Curtice, taking his cell phone and a mere $7.
Following the initial robbery, the assailants approached Joshua Touchet, who was sitting in his vehicle at the RV park. When Touchet refused to roll down his car window, he was shot.
He was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
An investigation led by the Lake Charles Police Department quickly identified three suspects. Based on a physical description provided, officers located and arrested 20-year-old Desmond Kemon Orphey and an unnamed 14-year-old. The third suspect, 28-year-old Johnnie Paul Hardman, was also identified and taken into custody. All three were charged with armed robbery and first-degree murder.
During legal proceedings, it was asserted by prosecutors that while Johnnie Hardman was the one who fired the weapon, Desmond Orphey was an active participant in the robbery. Surveillance footage from the scene was presented at trial, showing Orphey present during the crime, despite his denial of being there. In 2018, a jury found Johnnie Hardman guilty of first-degree murder. The following year, in August 2019, Desmond Kemon Orphey was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Orphey's conviction was later affirmed on appeal. The Louisiana Supreme Court also denied a subsequent appeal in his case.
