An 18-year-old Houma man is facing a second-degree murder charge after allegedly shooting a family member with an AR-15-style rifle in a business parking lot, then fleeing before surrendering to deputies at a nearby residence. Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Tim Soignet identified the suspect as Kasen Patrick Verrett, who was also booked on obstruction of justice and illegal possession or handling of machine guns charges following the shooting late Tuesday night.
The shooting happened shortly before 8 p.m. Tuesday in the 3700 block of Grand Caillou Road in Houma, where deputies found an adult male victim suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, according to WWL-TV. The victim was rushed to a local hospital, where he later died. As wwltv.com first reported, the victim's identity has been withheld pending notification of family, and his relationship to Verrett has not been publicly detailed beyond the fact that the two are relatives.
Investigators say Verrett admitted to getting into an argument with his relative in the parking lot before retrieving the rifle from his vehicle as the victim tried to walk away. According to the station's report, Verrett then shot the man multiple times and fired additional rounds at close range. Detectives said physical and digital evidence backed up that account.
Fleeing Through a Cane Field
After the shooting, Verrett allegedly fled the scene in a black SUV, ditching evidence in a nearby cane field before making his way to a residential neighborhood, per the same account. Cane fields are common across rural stretches of Terrebonne Parish, offering cover for anyone trying to shed evidence away from public view.
Detectives eventually tracked the suspect vehicle to the 400 block of L Kirth Drive in the Woodlawn Ranch Road area, where a resident flagged down a patrol officer to report that a family member may have been involved in the shooting, as reported by KQKI News. Verrett surrendered without incident once deputies arrived at the address.
A juvenile male who was inside the vehicle during the shooting witnessed the incident but was cleared of any criminal involvement, investigators said. Verrett was booked into the Terrebonne Parish Criminal Justice Complex on a $2.2 million bond, reflecting the severity of the charges against him.
Mandatory Life Sentence Looms Over Case
If convicted of second-degree murder, Verrett would face a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment at hard labor without the possibility of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence under Louisiana Revised Statutes § 14:30.1. Trial judges in Louisiana have no discretion to impose a lesser sentence once a conviction is secured under that statute.
Part of a Troubling Stretch for Terrebonne Parish
The Grand Caillou Road killing comes amid a run of violent incidents involving firearms in the parish. Less than a week earlier, on August 6, deputies arrested 26-year-old Jerome Dontrell Johnson on an attempted second-degree murder charge after a domestic shooting involving a family member inside a residence on Patrick Drive in Schriever, an unincorporated community just outside Houma.
Weeks before that, on July 19, a 14-year-old was arrested in connection with a shooting near downtown Houma during Juice Fest that wounded three bystanders, including a 12-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman. That shooting reportedly stemmed from an argument between teenagers attending the event.
Law enforcement activity in the area has also included a major narcotics operation. On August 5, the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office Narcotics Division and SWAT team executed a search warrant at a Houma residence, seizing crack cocaine, fentanyl, heroin and MDMA, with two siblings arrested during that search.
It remains unclear what specifically triggered the argument between Verrett and his relative before the shooting. Journalists and residents following the case will likely be watching for the formal release of the victim's name and any updates as the matter moves toward grand jury proceedings in Terrebonne Parish.
