On the final night of the year, a celebration on Sycamore Street in Alexandria, Louisiana, was tragically cut short by gunfire. In the late hours of December 31, 2023, police responded to calls of a shooting and discovered 21-year-old Trewande 'Cordell' Vallery deceased at the scene from a gunshot wound. The incident occurred in the 2200 block of East Sycamore Street at approximately 8:50 PM.
This was preceded by another shooting about half an hour earlier on West Sycamore Street that left one person wounded, though investigators have not publicly confirmed if the two events were related.
A suspect, 33-year-old Telvin Gullette of Alexandria, turned himself in to authorities on January 2, 2024. He was subsequently charged with second-degree murder in connection with Vallery's death. After 270 days of investigation and legal proceedings, a Rapides Parish jury deliberated for about two hours before finding Telvin Gullette guilty of the second-degree murder of Trewande Vallery on September 26, 2024.
The conviction brought a measure of closure to Vallery's family. His mother, Crystal, expressed her gratitude to the Alexandria Police Department detective, the prosecutor's team, and the eyewitnesses who came forward. In Louisiana, a conviction for second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Gullette's sentencing hearing was scheduled for October 9, 2024.
