In the quiet community of Lacombe, Louisiana, the life of 25-year-old Yelson Hernan Garcia Banegas was tragically cut short. On the evening of December 28, 2024, deputies on a routine patrol made a grim discovery on Lake Road, near the boat launch. They found the body of a man, later identified as Garcia Banegas, lying in the roadway. He had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. This violent act occurred just two days after he had celebrated his 25th birthday. Garcia Banegas was a Honduran national.
The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit immediately launched an investigation into the homicide. Their efforts quickly led to a suspect, and on December 29, 2024, less than a day after the discovery of Garcia Banegas's body, an arrest was made. Osmer Noel Villalta-Lopez, a 20-year-old resident of Ponchatoula, was taken into custody in connection with the killing. He was subsequently booked into the St. Tammany Parish Correctional Center.
Initially, Villalta-Lopez faced charges of first-degree murder and obstruction of justice. The investigation proceeded, and on April 16, 2025, a St. Tammany Parish grand jury indicted him on charges of second-degree murder and obstruction of justice. The case was presented to the grand jury by Assistant District Attorney Ronnie Gracianette, following an investigation led by Detective Katie Darby of the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office. Following a funeral service in Covington, Louisiana, the body of Yelson Hernan Garcia Banegas was repatriated to his home country of Honduras for burial.
