A high school basketball night in Bogalusa that ended in gunfire has now led to a life sentence for the teen at the center of the case.
On Monday, a Washington Parish judge sentenced 19-year-old Hakheim Young to life in prison without the benefit of parole for his role in a January 2024 shooting outside Bogalusa High School. Prosecutors say the gunfire erupted in the school’s parking lot during a basketball game, killing a 14-year-old and wounding two other teenagers.
Young was convicted in June after a seven-day trial on one count of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder, according to the district attorney's office. That verdict set the stage for Monday’s sentencing.
At the hearing, Judge John A. Keller imposed the mandatory life term for the murder conviction and added two 30-year sentences for the attempted-murder counts. Court records and local coverage indicate the 30-year terms were ordered to run consecutively to each other but concurrently with the life sentence, WDSU reported. Young was taken into custody by the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office to await transfer to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
The shooting took place on Jan. 11, 2024, when, according to prosecutors, the 14-year-old and two friends approached an unlocked vehicle in the Bogalusa High School parking lot and were met with a hail of bullets. The 14-year-old victim, identified in court as “D.J.,” was shot multiple times and later died, while one of the surviving teens was hit in the leg, WBRZ reported. Authorities say an automatic weapon was used in the attack.
Prosecutors relied on recorded remarks
At trial, prosecutors pointed to a voice recording captured roughly 12 hours after the shooting as a key piece of evidence. In that recording, one defendant could be heard bragging and imitating bursts of automatic gunfire, according to the district attorney's office.
Assistant District Attorney Jay Adair highlighted the recording in his argument to jurors, telling them, “The defense trying to gaslight you into an alternate reality just tells me how damning that piece of evidence is,” the office reported.
What the law allows
Under Louisiana law, a second-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment at hard labor without the benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. Judges have virtually no discretion to reduce the punishment on that count, though they still impose separate terms for any related convictions, according to the statute as posted on Justia.
Context and earlier sentencing
Young is the second defendant in the case to receive a life sentence. Co-defendant Keldric Harry was convicted earlier and sentenced to life in April after a separate trial, as part of prosecutors’ effort to hold everyone involved accountable, local reporting shows. The twin life sentences have drawn attention across Washington Parish and amplified long-running concerns about gun violence at youth events.
The sentencing of Young marks the latest chapter in a case that has gripped the parish since the January 2024 shooting. He will remain in custody while officials complete his transfer to state prison.
