A welfare check at a home near Pine Street and Maple Street in Morgan City turned into a murder investigation Sunday after officers found a 65-year-old dead inside with signs of foul play. Police arrested 49-year-old Whitney Billiot IV of Morgan City on a charge of first-degree murder, and he was booked into the St. Mary Parish Jail in Centerville while the coroner's office works to formally identify the victim.
According to KADN News 15, Morgan City police officers were dispatched to the area on August 16 to check on the well-being of a resident. Once inside the home, officers discovered a person dead, and investigators observed signs of foul play that prompted a broader inquiry. Detectives went on to identify Billiot as a suspect and say they collected evidence linking him to the death. The victim's name had not been released as of the arrest, and no bond had yet been set for Billiot, per the same report.
A Louisiana Statute Built Around the Victim's Age
The first-degree murder charge against Billiot stems in part from the age of the victim. Under Louisiana Revised Statute 14:30, intentional killings of a victim aged 65 or older qualify for the state's most serious homicide charge, which carries either life imprisonment at hard labor without parole or the death penalty, according to The Ambeau Law Firm. Louisiana law divides criminal homicide into five grades — first-degree murder, second-degree murder, manslaughter, negligent homicide, and vehicular homicide — with prosecutors selecting the grade based on intent and any statutory aggravating factor, the firm notes. In this case, the victim's age reportedly served as that aggravator, elevating the case beyond a standard murder charge.
Billiot was booked at the St. Mary Parish Jail in Centerville, the facility used for felony detainees transferred after municipal booking. The St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center, operated by the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office, has an inmate capacity of 320 and holds both local pre-trial detainees and state prisoners.
A Long History of Standoffs on the Same Street
Billiot's arrest is not his first brush with Morgan City police, and not his first involving violence. In January 2021, officers arrested a then-43-year-old Billiot after a standoff on Leona Street where he was allegedly armed with a knife and held family members hostage, according to KQKI News. Officers eventually entered the home and deployed a Taser to end the standoff, and Billiot was booked on charges including domestic abuse aggravated assault, child endangerment, and false imprisonment.
That wasn't an isolated flashpoint either. In October 2019, police arrested a then-42-year-old Billiot following a barricade situation on the same Leona Street, charging him with aggravated assault with a firearm, terrorizing, child desertion, and threatening a public official, per KWBJ TV 22. Two years before that, in August 2017, officers arrested a then-40-year-old Billiot on Leona Street on charges that included battery on an officer, resisting an officer, possession of methamphetamine, and outstanding warrants for simple battery, according to St. Mary Now.
Welfare Checks Have Uncovered Grim Scenes Before
This is not the first time a routine welfare check in Morgan City has escalated into a death investigation. In January 2024, police conducted a welfare check on Short Street that led to the discovery of two 39-year-olds dead from gunshot wounds in an apparent murder-suicide, WBRZ reported at the time. Morgan City, an industrial and maritime hub in the Acadiana region along the Atchafalaya River in St. Mary Parish, had an estimated population of 10,813 in 2024, down from 11,472 recorded in the 2020 U.S. Census, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The department's call volume gives some sense of how routine dispatches can turn serious. During a single 24-hour period in January 2021 when officers were executing prior felony warrants, Morgan City police responded to 44 calls for service, per the same KQKI News account. This case follows Hoodline's earlier report on a custody death under investigation by Louisiana State Police, another sign of the scrutiny Morgan City's police department has faced in recent months.
Investigators say the case remains ongoing, and key questions are still unanswered. The victim's identity has not been officially confirmed pending the coroner's determination, and no bond has been set for Billiot as he awaits his next court appearance in St. Mary Parish.
