February court date for murder suspect
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, December 21, 2011
By ROBIN SHANNON
L’Observateur
LAPLACE –The man accused in the Dec. 5 murder of a 15-year-old LaPlace resident is expected to face trail for his actions Feb. 6 in Edgard, according to St. John the Baptist Parish District Attorney Tom Daley.
Prosecutors have completed analysis of DNA evidence in the case against Earnest Joseph III. Daley said Joseph’s attorney, David Belfield, had been given a deadline to perform independent analysis and said the deadline has come and gone. Daley said a status hearing was held Nov. 16, and the defense was given 30 days to file motions. He said none were filed as of Monday.
“We are expecting to move forward with the case in February in Judge (Madeline) Jasmine’s court,” Daley said.
Joseph, 27, was indicted Jan. 4 on second-degree murder charges in connection with the death of Taylor Adams. Joseph is accused of beating the Riverside Academy student to death inside her own home in the 2500 block of Yorktowne Drive in the early morning hours of Dec. 5.
Adams’ mother discovered her daughter’s body after returning from work at about 6:30 a.m. that morning. The mother told detectives she had not seen or spoken to her daughter since about 9 p.m. Dec. 4 and she expected her daughter to be home by herself. The mother had worked as a security guard in LaPlace and often worked a 12-hour shift overnight.
An autopsy report indicated the victim sustained “blunt force trauma to the head,” but did not specify a murder weapon. Detectives suspect the incident took place sometime after 1 a.m. Dec. 5 based on Adams’ Facebook activity that evening.
Three days after discovering Adams had been murdered, authorities named Joseph as a suspect.
He was arrested by U.S. Marshals near Gulfport, Miss.
Joseph remains incarcerated at the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace. If convicted of second-degree murder, Joseph would face a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole or probation.