One more sought in Davis murder

By LEONARD GRAY

Managing Editor

LAPLACE – One more suspect is being sought in connection with the drive-by shooting death of Byron Davis on Jan. 23.

St. John Parish Sheriff Wayne L. Jones at a press conference Thursday announced the search was on for a man who, detectives say, was in the same vehicle as Joshua Jones, 18; Torrey Parquet, 23; Josh Wilson, 17; and Javon Miller, all of LaPlace.

Maj. Michael Tregre said Wilson was located at his mother’s house on Thursday afternoon. Jones was located shortly after the incident. Parquet surrendered on his own, Tregre said.

Parquet is charged with one count of first-degree murder and four counts of attempted first-degree murder. The others are charged with being a principal to first-degree murder and four counts of being a principal to attempted first-degree murder.

Also being sought is Joelle Martin, 18, afer his brother Javon, 23, surrendered Thursday night. Both are LaPlace residents.

Jones linked the shooting to an ongoing problem with St. John Parish administration, which routinely rubber-stamp applications for liquor licenses to open what he called “fly-by-night barrooms.”

Those bars, Jones added, are usually open only a few months and encourage underage drinking and access to drugs, which contributes to the violence on the streets.

“We’re here to clean up the mess,” the sheriff said. “I’m going to take some pro-active steps to eliminate these.”

Jones pledged to bring the matter to the St. John Parish Council to revamp the process, making it tougher for liquor-license applications. He said an officer will be assigned to perform background criminal checks and perform inspections of the premises in every case.

“I don’t care if it takes 30 or 60 days or whatever,” the sheriff said.

He also showed media at Thursday’s press conference a police video of a disturbance at Millennium club on Airline Highway, which showed a crowd of 50 or more young people in the middle of the highway in an apparent drunken brawl, and throwing bottles at police.

On Jan. 23, at 2:17 a.m., Byron Davis, 22, of 404 Historic East St., in Garyville, was found in a ditch along Central Avenue in Reserve, in a white Oldsmobile 88, dead from a gunshot wound in the head. Two passengers – Kewan Fabre, 18, and Tramon Dixon, 17, both of Garyville – also sustained gunshot wounds. Both are now in stable condition at Charity Hospital.

Another passenger, a 16-year-old Garyville male, sustained a broken leg in the crash and a fifth passenger – David Prembrooke, 19, of Garyville – was uninjured.

A deputy rolling in the opposite direction gave chase of the green Oldsmobile Cutlass and, assisted by other officers, soon ran it to ground.

However, the suspects in the vehicle fled the scene.

Jones affirmed that Parquet, now in custody, was the person who actually fired the weapon three times, killing Davis and injuring two other passengers. The driver, Jones added, was Javon Martin.

Jones said the matter had its origins at Club Fusion on Airline Highway in LaPlace, one of those labeled by the sheriff as a “fly-by-night” bar.

Joshua Jones, Tregre added, is the brother of Robert Jones, 21, of Reserve, who was shot Dec. 28 in the parking lot of a LaPlace convenience store. Brandon Collins, 22, of Reserve, was charged with manslaughter for that incident.