By LEONARD GRAY

Managing Editor

LAPLACE — Johnnie Lee Cheek and Crystal Reed were each indicted Thursday by the St. John Parish Grand Jury in connection with the June 16 homicide of Capt. Octavio Gonzalez of the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Cheek, 31, faces charges of first-degree murder of a police officer, which is a capital offense, and two counts of attempted first-degree murder of a police officer. His alleged accomplice Reed, 27, faces charges of being a principal to Cheek’s charges.

The couple will be arraigned Monday on the above charges. Their cases have been assigned to 40th Judicial District Judge J. Sterling Snowdy.

Meanwhile, motions hearings are scheduled in Jefferson Parish – Aug. 24 for Reed and Sept. 7 for Cheek, according to the Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court office.

In Jefferson Parish, Cheek faces second-degree kidnapping and several counts of armed robbery. Reed has told investigators she herself was kidnapped by Cheek and forced to assist him in his crimes. Her attorney, appointed in Jefferson Parish, is Susan Ciaravella.

A Mazda Millennium driven by Cheek was pulled over that night by Detective Monty Adams and Tangipahoa Deputy Keith Womack, who were working a multi-jurisdictional drug trafficking program on Interstate 10 in LaPlace.

Before Adams could exit his vehicle on U.S. 51, he was fired upon and struck in the left thigh. Cheek later allegedly shot and killed Gonzalez, stole his unmarked Ford Expedition and made their way to Jefferson Parish, where both were captured.