By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

EDGARD – A 42-year-old LaPlace man charged with the 2008 shooting death of a longtime friend was sentenced in Edgard Monday to five years in jail.

Clyde Madere Jr. was arrested in January of 2008 after he confessed to shooting and killing 39-year-old Brandon Segrave during an argument outside his home. Madere was sentenced by District Judge A.J. Kling after pleading guilty to negligent homicide earlier this year.

A St. John Parish grand jury indicted Madere on Jan. 22 on a charge of second-degree murder. A day later, the St. John District Attorney’s Office filed a motion for recusal from the case and handed prosecution to the state Attorney General’s Office. The Attorney General’s Office conducted a follow-up investigation, which included a complete crime scene reconstruction. In a release from the Attorney General’s Office, authorities said prosecutors finally determined there was “no credible evidence to support the original second-degree murder charge.”

After consulting the victim’s family, prosecutors allowed Madere to plead guilty to negligent homicide. The five-year sentence is the maximum amount of jail time he could have received.

According to a report from the St. John Sheriff’s Office, Madere and Segrave were involved in an argument that took place inside Madere’s home in the 100 block of Tassin Court on Jan. 5, 2008.

The report says Segrave left the house and got into his truck to leave. Madere then grabbed a .20-gauge shotgun from his home and followed Segrave.

Investigators said Madere fired one shot at Segrave’s truck as he backed out of the driveway. The report said shrapnel from the bullet struck Segrave in the chest, and he died at the scene.

Madere later told investigators he never intended to shoot Segrave and said he fired the gun accidentally.