On the morning of January 9, 2017, the body of 28-year-old Ryan Joseph Dubuc of Metairie, Louisiana, was discovered by plant workers along an access road in Hahnville. An electrician on his way to work, Dubuc had been shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene. He was a male with no identification on his person when he was found, leading to a brief period before he was formally identified.
The investigation into Dubuc's death moved swiftly as detectives pieced together his
last known movements. They determined that he had left his home in Metairie around 5:30 a.m. en route to his job. A crucial stop was made at a Birdie's Food and Fuel in Luling, where Dubuc used an ATM to withdraw $80. It was here that he encountered 31-year-old Jerel Anthony Smith of Luling. Security footage and subsequent investigation revealed that Smith approached Dubuc and got into his truck. It remains unclear whether Dubuc allowed him in willingly. The two men, who were not believed to have known each other previously, then drove off together.
The St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office launched an intensive investigation that led them to Jerel Smith. A S.W.A.T. team arrested Smith at his mother's residence just two days after Dubuc's body was found. The motive for the brutal slaying appeared to be robbery for the small amount of cash Dubuc had just withdrawn. Following the murder, Dubuc's truck was found abandoned in a sugarcane field. Smith was charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery, use of a firearm, and carjacking.
In May of 2018, a jury found Jerel Smith guilty of the second-degree murder and armed robbery of Ryan Dubuc. The trial concluded with a unanimous verdict after less than an hour of deliberation. For his crimes, Smith faced a mandatory life sentence for the murder conviction, ensuring he would spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The tragic and senseless act of violence cut short the life of a young man for what authorities described as 'as little as $80.'
