Month: August 2024

Truck driver pleads guilty to killing bicyclist on Marrero’s River Road

A Jefferson Parish judge on Monday (Aug. 26) sentenced truck driver Philemon Lyons-Feemster to three years of active probation, after the defendant pleaded guilty to causing the death of a bicyclist on River Road in Marrero last year.

Lyons-Feemster, 29, a Lake Charles resident, pleaded guilty as charged to negligent homicide in the death of Pedro Manzuela-Villa, 32, of Belle Chasse.

Just before 9 a.m., on April 4, 2023, Manzuela-Villa was riding his bicycle with the flow of traffic on River Road when he entered a sharp S-curve in the roadway just east of Robinson Avenue. The bicyclist, who was wearing a helmet and was training for a bicycling competition, was riding on the extreme right edge of the roadway.

Lyons-Feemster was driving behind him in a 2019 International truck pulling a petroleum tanker trailer. He attempted to pass the bicyclist in the no-passing zone in the S-curve.

As the tractor-trailer entered the curve, the trailer’s right rear wheels left the roadway. Manzuela-Villa was struck by the side of the tanker trailer and knocked to the ground. He fell beneath the rear wheels and died at the scene.

Louisiana State Police initially cited Lyons-Feemster with a state traffic violation that limits when motorists can pass bicyclists. Known as the Colin Goodier Bicycle Protection Act, the law requires motorists to maintain at least three feet of space between their vehicles and bicycles. The law also allows motorists to pass bicyclists in no-passing zones only when it is safe to do so.

Video obtained from the cab in which Lyons-Feemster drove and his cell phone records show he was speaking with someone on the phone at the time he entered the S-curve and that he was aware of the bicyclist ahead of him.

Upon reviewing the case, the District Attorney’s Office charged Lyons-Feemster with negligent homicide.

After hearing victim-impact testimony from Manzuela-Villa’s girlfriend on Monday, Judge Stephen Enright of the 24th Judicial District Court, in accepting the guilty plea, sentenced Lyons-Feemster to five years in prison – the maximum punishment for negligent homicide. Judge Enright suspended the sentence and ordered Lyons-Feemster to serve three years of active probation.

Assistant District Attorney Molly Love prosecuted the case.

Gerald McKnight pleads guilty to Gretna drunk-driving death, gets 5-year sentence

A Jefferson Parish judge on Monday (Aug. 12) sentenced Gerald McKnight to five years in prison, after he pleaded guilty to causing the death of a woman while driving under the influence on the West Bank.

McKnight, 42, pleaded guilty as charged to vehicular homicide in the Dec. 15, 2022 death of Tricia Cook. The 72-year-old woman was a passenger in the rear seat of a taxicab that was traveling west on the elevated Westbank Expressway near Lafayette Street.

At about 11:45 p.m., the 66-year-old taxi driver, Eliot Theophile, stopped in his Ford Crown Victoria in the right lane because of traffic congestion, as he was attempting to take the Lafayette exit.

McKnight, driving an Acura MDX, rear-ended the taxicab. The taxicab struck another vehicle, whose driver fled the scene.

The impact sent Cook, who was not restrained, over the front seat and into the driver’s compartment. She was killed. Theophile was injured.

The Louisiana State Police observed McKnight exhibiting signs of intoxication. He performed poorly in a field sobriety test. A breath test showed his blood-alcohol content was .098 percent.

In addition to the vehicular homicide charge, McKnight pleaded guilty to vehicular negligent injury and failing to wear a seatbelt, both misdemeanors.

After hearing victim-impact testimony, 24th Judicial District Court Judge Jacqueline Maloney sentenced McKnight to five years for vehicular homicide and six months for the vehicular negligent injury. She ran the sentences concurrently. Judge Maloney also fined McKnight $50 for the seatbelt offense.

Assistant District Attorney Alyssa Aleman prosecuted the case.