Louisiana jury convicts 1 ex-officer and acquits another in 2022 shooting death
GRETNA, La.– A Louisiana jury has convicted a former law enforcement officer and acquitted another in the 2022 shooting of a man sitting in an SUV outside a home known for illegal drug activity.
Issac Hughes, who was convicted Friday, and Johnathan Louis, who was acquitted, were deputies with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office when Daniel Vallee, 34, was killed in the New Orleans suburb of Marrero.
Police body camera footage showed that after a 15-minute standoff, Vallee’s last words to officers were: “Please put down the weapons.”
Hughes and Louis were each charged with manslaughter with a possible sentence of 40 years in prison. Hughes faces up to five years in prison after jurors convicted him on the lesser charge of negligent homicide.
The two were among five deputies who responded to a noise complaint in the early hours of Feb. 16, 2022. Sheriff Joe Lopinto said Vallee was in a vehicle outside a suspected drug house and refused to get out when instructed by the deputies, WVUE- TV reported.
Defense attorneys said Hughes and Louis acted in self-defense because Vallee dropped his hands from view several times, even as officers instructed him to keep them visible. Attorneys said the two officers believed Vallee might “arm” his vehicle.
Prosecutors said deputies had options to de-escalate. They said another deputy never fired his weapon but kept it in a “low ready” position, indicating other officers did not perceive an immediate threat.
“The penalty for a law enforcement officer’s failure to comply is not death,” said Assistant District Attorney Rachel Africk.
Vallee restarted the SUV’s engine 45 seconds before he was shot and four officers drew their weapons, according to The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate. One deputy, who was not charged, yelled at Vallee to turn off the car, and Vallee shouted, “I’m scared. You’re all trying to kill me.’
Vallée dropped his right hand and honked the SUV’s horn. Then Hughes, who was standing in front of the vehicle, opened fire and fired all 18 rounds from his gun toward the windshield, according to testimony. Louis stood near the passenger window and fired nine bullets just after Hughes started shooting.
Vallee was shot eight times and pronounced dead at the scene.
Neither Hughes nor Louis testified during their four-day trial in Gretna. Jefferson Parish sheriff’s officers began using body cameras in December 2021, and Vallee’s death was the first shooting by deputies after that policy was implemented.