David John Pence, a 56-year-old male, was tragically killed in his Metairie, Louisiana, home on the night of April 22, 2015. In an act of senseless violence, he and his 25-year-old son, Nicholas, were both shot and killed. The incident unfolded just before midnight when an intruder entered their residence.
The evening began as a quiet one, with David resting in a recliner where he often watched television.
Unbeknownst to him and his family, a 17-year-old from New Orleans named Dexter Allen had been committing a series of car burglaries in their neighborhood. After breaking into David's car parked in the driveway, Allen slipped into the house through a side door, his eyes set on a purse he could see from outside. It was this fateful decision that led to the devastating loss of two lives.
Inside the home, Allen, armed with a stolen shotgun, first shot David Pence as he slept in his chair. The sound of the gunfire roused Nicholas, who rushed into the living room to his father's aid. There, he too was fatally shot by the intruder. The perpetrator used the shotgun to fire a total of five blasts. David's wife, Beth Pence, was awakened by the noise and discovered the horrific scene, finding her husband deceased and her son dying. Her heart-wrenching 911 call captured the final moments of her son's life as dispatchers tried to guide her in performing chest compressions.
The investigation led by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office quickly pointed to Dexter Allen, who had traveled to Metairie in a car he had allegedly carjacked earlier that day. His crime spree in the neighborhood, which included 19 vehicle burglaries, ultimately led him to the Pence residence. In October 2016, a Jefferson Parish jury found Allen, then 19, guilty of two counts of second-degree murder and 19 counts of simple burglary. In April 2017, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the brutal killings.
