In the quiet town of St. Gabriel, Louisiana, a violent encounter on May 10, 2015, shattered the Sunday peace and left two men dead. One of the victims was Dominique Dunbar, a 26-year-old male. The incident, which also claimed the life of 30-year-old Rove Lodge, unfolded at a trailer located on MLK Parkway. The Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office responded to the scene to find a grim tableau, the result of a heated altercation that had escalated to a fatal shootout.
The investigation into
the double homicide quickly took a surprising turn, as the man identified as the shooter was Kevin Ambeau, Jr., the son of the St. Gabriel police chief at the time, Kevin Ambeau, Sr. This familial connection to law enforcement brought immediate and intense scrutiny to the case. Sheriff Brett Stassi acknowledged that the evidence, including two different sets of shell casings recovered from the scene, pointed to a gunfight between the parties involved. From the outset of the investigation, Sheriff Stassi publicly stated his belief that Ambeau, Jr. had acted in self-defense during the deadly exchange.
As the legal process moved forward, the case was presented to an Iberville Parish grand jury. The proceedings were not without their own complexities, as the state took control of the case at one point, causing a delay and rescheduling of the grand jury hearing. Ultimately, when the grand jury convened and reviewed the evidence presented by the authorities, they returned a 'no true bill.' This decision signified that the grand jury did not find sufficient evidence to proceed with criminal charges against Kevin Ambeau, Jr., effectively clearing him of any wrongdoing in the deaths of Dominique Dunbar and Rove Lodge. The legal system concluded that the actions taken by the police chief's son were justifiable under the circumstances of the altercation.
