In the summer of 2017, on a tragic Tuesday, the life of 27-year-old Letisha Rheams was cut short in Independence, Louisiana. On June 27, the day before she would have celebrated her 28th birthday, Rheams was found on the porch of her Livingston Parish home with a fatal gunshot wound to her lower back. Despite being rushed to the hospital, she succumbed to her injuries.
The investigation into her death quickly focused on her boyfriend of 16 years, Ollie Selders Jr.
The couple was in the midst of a contentious separation. Rheams had been in the process of moving her belongings out of their shared home with the intention of ending their long-term relationship. Family members reported that she had been agitated about the situation in the days leading up to her death and had planned to leave for good that morning.
Initially, Selders provided a version of events that conflicted with the evidence gathered by the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office. He was arrested and initially charged with obstruction of justice. Investigators later discovered that he had attempted to hide the gun in a wooded area behind their home. As the investigation progressed, the charges against Selders were upgraded to murder.
In January 2019, a jury found Ollie Selders Jr. guilty of the murder of Letisha Rheams. The trial brought to light the domestic dispute that escalated to a fatal conclusion, ending a 16-year relationship in the most tragic way imaginable and leaving a family to mourn the loss of a young woman on the eve of her birthday.
