On a December evening in 2015, the life of 23-year-old Linton Batiste was tragically cut short in a burst of gunfire. The male victim was at a Lafayette, Louisiana apartment on Christmas Sunday, December 27th, when the fatal shooting occurred. He was not the only one to lose his life that night; 17-year-old Antonio Means was also killed in the same violent encounter.
The events that unfolded at the apartment complex led to a swift law enforcement response and an investigation into the
double homicide. Within a couple of days, a suspect was identified and taken into custody. The individual arrested was connected to an ex-girlfriend who resided at the apartment where the shooting took place.
Following the arrest, the legal process moved forward. In April of the following year, a Lafayette grand jury handed down an indictment against the man accused of the killings. He was formally charged with two counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of Linton Batiste and Antonio Means. The case then proceeded to trial, where a jury was tasked with weighing the evidence presented. Ultimately, the jury reached a verdict, finding the man guilty on both counts of second-degree murder. For his role in the deaths of the two young men, he was subsequently sentenced to serve two consecutive life sentences in prison.
