In the quiet community of Bayou Vista, Louisiana, the life of 18-year-old Keyiona Chenevert was tragically cut short on January 21, 2013. A native of Morgan City and resident of Patterson, the young woman was discovered unresponsive in her apartment on Three B's Lane in the afternoon, the victim of a fatal act of violence. The St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office responded to a 911 call that day, beginning an investigation into her untimely death.
The subsequent investigation by the Criminal
Investigation Division of the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office identified a suspect in the case. This led to the arrest of 18-year-old Marcus Jay Hamilton in March 2013. He was taken into custody on a warrant for second-degree murder in connection with Chenevert's death. Investigators determined that Chenevert had died from a single gunshot wound to the back of her head.
In May 2013, a grand jury indicted Hamilton on the charge of second-degree murder. His trial concluded in May 2016, with a jury finding him guilty of the charge. The trial revealed that Hamilton had borrowed the gun used in the shooting from his cousin and had attempted to cover up his involvement by removing shell casings from the scene and deleting conversation records. Despite his defense's claims that the shooting was accidental, the jury deliberated for nearly three hours before reaching their guilty verdict. Following his conviction, Marcus Jay Hamilton was sentenced to the mandatory term of life in prison at hard labor without the possibility of parole.
