In the summer of 2014, the life of 30-year-old Kentrell Dyion Bailey was tragically cut short in Laplace, Louisiana. On July 28th, his body was discovered in a ditch along Main Street at the intersection of Farm Road, having sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the head. The community was left shaken by the senseless act of violence that claimed the life of a man known to his loved ones as 'K.T.'.
The investigation that followed uncovered a grim sequence of events.
Authorities were able to obtain crime camera footage showing Bailey in an older model Oldsmobile on the night he was killed. This crucial piece of evidence led detectives to identify Alonzo Wilkens, then 28, as a person of interest. It was determined that Wilkens was with Bailey on the night of the murder. Though the final moments leading to Bailey's death were not captured on video, the subsequent investigation of the vehicle revealed the strong smell of bleach and the presence of Bailey's blood in the backseat, painting a chilling picture of a violent struggle and a desperate attempt to conceal the crime. The murder weapon, however, was never recovered.
A manhunt for Wilkens ensued, involving numerous local and national law enforcement agencies and spanning several parishes before he was apprehended. The legal proceedings that followed brought a measure of closure to Bailey's grieving family. In May 2019, Alonzo Wilkens pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit second degree murder and obstruction of justice in a homicide investigation. He was sentenced to the maximum of 30 years for each charge, with the sentences to be served concurrently. Bailey's mother, in a poignant statement to the court, expressed the profound loss her family endured, describing her son's life as having been 'taken away from him senselessly.'
