By ROBIN SHANNON
L’Observateur

A grand Jury in St. John Parish handed down indictments Monday for two men involved in the shooting death of 27-year-old Nakesha Nichelle Joseph late last year, said a spokesman for the District Attorney’s office.

Jules Robertson, 20, 204 Homewood Drive, Reserve, and Calvin Mitchell, 22, 19231 La. Hwy. 22, Maurepas, were indicted on first-degree murder charges in connection with Joseph’s death in Reserve on Dec. 30, said Mike Tregre, public information officer for St. John District Attorney Tom Daley.

Tregre said Robertson, who was arrested in February, remains in jail at the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace in lieu of $500,300 bond. He said Mitchell still remains at large.

According to reports from the St. John Sheriff’s Office Joseph, a resident of Reserve, was shot multiple times during an attempted armed robbery while she and 36-year-old Ron James of Garyville sat in a parked car in the 200 block of East 24th Street.

The report said James told investigators he and Joseph were talking in the car when two men walked up and tried to rob them. James said he immediately tried to drive away, but the suspects shot at the car. Joseph was shot 12 times and pronounced dead on the scene, while James was hit once in the right leg.

Tregre said a third man, 29-year-old Terrel Hutchinson of Reserve, was arrested a short time after the shooting, but no charges are being filed against him from the District Attorney’s office.

Joseph’s death was the ninth killing in St. John Parish in 2008.