By VICKIE JAMBON

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – Jerry Butler was beaten severely in a house on Arlington Drive before he was driven to the Mississippi River levee on Nov. 6 and shot twice in the head. Residents living near the house said shootings were a common site at the residence.

On Nov. 5, six men quarreled over a stolen gun inside the small wood house located at 337 Arlington Drive. The argument was so intense it forced one man, Butler, to flee the house and fueled at least six other men to search for him overnight in a car authorities said was driven by Ryan Triche.

The men caught up to Butler. Authorities do not know if they brought Butler back to the house or Butler met the men there on his own accord. Either way, Butler wound up back inside the house with the men he argued with on Nov. 5. The six men then brutally beat Butler inside the house, said authorities.

According to authorities, Butler was placed inside a car driven by Quentin Lewis and dumped behind the Mississippi Levee in Reserve. They said Butler – barely breathing – lay on the ground gasping for air.

Authorities said there were other horrendous acts of torment perpetrated against Butler; however, they are not allowing that information to be released to the public.

According to authorities, while Butler lay on the ground, Dauren Howard, pointed a gun at the man’s head and pulled the trigger twice.

The entire Butler murder allegedly began with an argument inside the Arlington house.

Neighbors said they saw the murder in the making. They said trouble was brewing at the Arlington house long before the Nov. 6 murder of Butler.

One couple living near the home said an incorrigible crowd of people often gathered at site where the murder took place.

The couple would not release their names. They were afraid of retaliation from individuals connected with Butler’s murder.

According to the couple, Ester Williamson owned the home where Butler was beaten. Ester moved to Mississippi several years ago, leaving her son, Frank “Frankie” Williamson, behind to live in her house.

Williamson took in a roommate named Denyen Gaines. Both men confessed to authorities they beat Butler and were with him when he was shot on the levee.

“We knew Frankie since he was a little boy,” said the couple. “We tried to talk to him. He didn’t work. At one time they had no water, gas or electricity.

The neighbors said they also knew Triche.

Triche confessed to authorities that he drove the car in the overnight search for Butler. He also confessed he later helped remove evidence from the scene of the crime.

“I saw the Triche boy all the time. He would always ask, ‘How are you doing Mr. ____?” He was just as nice as can be. I tried to help them all out as much as I could,” said the neighbor.

According to the couple, crowds would gather in the yard at the house. Boys would either sit in chairs along the front of the residence or they would hang out in the front yard.

“There were always a lot of boys over there. We knew something bad was going to happen. They went in and out day and night,” said the female neighbor.

According to the neighbors, there were shootings at the house. The couple described men standing in the street shooting at the streetlight in the front of the house.

In one particular incident, several men were arguing in the street when one of the men walked over to his white car parked on the street, took his shoes off, placed the footwear in the car on the back seat and opened the glove box inside the car.

He took out a gun and began shooting at a man he was arguing with. The bullet flew past the man and struck a white paneled van parked in a neighbor’s yard.

The van is still parked in its driveway and the bullet hole is visible to anyone passing. Also visible is the broken light globe at the top of the light pole.

After Butler’s murder, the Sheriff’s Office stopped garbage pick-up on Arlington Drive for one week, the couple continued.

“At first we wondered why our garbage had not been picked up for awhile. Then we saw police remove a mattress from the house and they took the outside garbage. That’s when we realized they (the police) were searching for evidence,” the couple said.

Residents in the neighborhood note the street is now quiet. Talking intermittently, the couple said, “We had some trouble down the street in two other households. People moved from one home and people were kicked out of the other home. That’s it. The rest of the neighborhood is all right.”