By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A LaPlace man was arrested on second-degree murder charges in connection with St. John Parish’s first homicide of the year, said a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office.

Capt. Dane Clement, a public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, said Joseph Noble, 18, of 304 Linwood Drive, turned himself over to authorities Friday afternoon and confessed to fatally shooting 40-year-old Troy Dropthmore following an argument on Feb. 13 outside a LaPlace apartment. Clement said detectives had issued a warrant for Noble’s arrest late Thursday following an investigation into the incident and said Noble fully cooperated with investigators.

According to a Sheriff’s Office report, Dropthmore, whose last known address is in Reserve, was found unresponsive on the front lawn of an apartment in the 200 block of Joe Parquet Circle with multiple gunshot wounds after sheriff’s deputies responded to a call of shots fired around 8:45 p.m. Feb. 13.

Detectives believe Dropthmore and Noble were arguing prior to the shooting, but the topic of the disagreement remains unclear. Clement said both men knew each other prior to the incident.

Through interviews with witnesses, detectives were able to locate the handgun used in Dropthmore’s murder, Clement said. He would not say where the weapon was found.

The gun was brought to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab in Baton Rouge, where authorities performed an analysis of the gun along with bullet casings recovered at the murder scene.

Clement said the gun tested positive as the one used in the homicide. It was also revealed the gun was reported stolen in August 2009 in LaPlace.

Noble, who was also booked with possession of stolen property, is being held at the Sherman Walker Correctional facility in LaPlace in lieu of a $310,000 bond.