Brandon Scott Lavergne Indicted for First Degree Murder of Mickey Shunick and New Victim

A Lafayette Parish grand jury indicted Brandon Scott Lavergne for the first degree murder of the still-missing Mickey Shunick.  But in a bombshell, grand jurors also found enough evidence to also charge him with the first degree murder of an Acadia Parish woman who was found dead in 1999.

A grand jury decides on whether or not a case should be pursued against a person, not whether or not that person is guilty.  The grand jury in this case decided that the charges of first degree murder were warranted, though specific details were not made public.  Lavergne’s defense team were not invited to the grand jury hearing.

But apparently, during that hearing, the prosecution convinced the jury to pursue charges against Lavergne for the death of 35-year-old Lisa Pate.  According to the Baton Rouge Advocate, Pate was found under a pile of boards at a home in Church Point.  In 2002, officials told the press they though they had a suspect for Pate’s murder, but that he was already in jail.  Officials have not revealed whether or not Lavergne was on the list of suspects.

Lavergne would have been in jail at that time, serving eight years for an oral sexual battery from a 1999 incident.

The state of Louisiana has announced that they will pursue the death penalty in this case.  An arraignment is forthcoming, but next week, Lavergne will be back in court trying to get prosecutors to give him a bond and to reveal their evidence for keeping him in jail.