Man facing another armed robbery charge in Alexandria incident now held on $2M+ bail
The Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office announced the arrests of three people sought on warrants for armed robbery, and the information provides some clarity into the arrest of one suspect in a separate incident on Feb. 5.
On that day, deputies were called around 6 p.m. to the 4900 block of Victoria Drive in Alexandria after a report of shots being fired. Deputies did find evidence that a shooting had happened, and they also encountered 19-year-old Tayshaun Lamar Spearman.
He was wanted on warrants from both the sheriff's office and the Alexandria Police Department.
The city warrants were on charges of second-degree murder and armed robbery, which stemmed from an Aug. 4 incident. Spearman and another man allegedly tried robbing a victim at gunpoint near Mimosa Drive and Tupelo Court and, during a struggle, the gun went off.
The man with Spearman, Don'Tavius Dontrell Ceasor, was shot, according to a news release issued at the time. He was taken to a hospital before police arrived and later died there.
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Spearman was arrested on the charges, but he was formally charged with aggravated kidnapping and armed robbery with a firearm in the Aug. 4 case. He pleaded not guilty in October.
During the October hearing, he updated his home address as being in Dallas. Ninth Judicial District Court Judge Patricia Koch told him not to return to Rapides Parish unless he had a court date and granted him a reduction of his bail.
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A pretrial conference was set for March 27.
But Spearman did not abide by Koch's instructions, and he was arrested again in the parish on Nov. 10 on a felony charge of possessing an AK-47. According to a city police spokesman, his bond on the original charges then was revoked.
So, on Feb. 5, Spearman was arrested on those warrants and one from the sheriff's office for an unrelated armed robbery.
When the sheriff's office arrested Spearman, a news release only stated it was on an unrelated charge to the shootings it was investigating. On Friday, the sheriff's office released more details.
Spearman's arrest was connected to a Dec. 29 report from a juvenile, who told deputies they were walking in the area of Rosemary Drive, which is off England Drive, when a vehicle pulled beside them and three males pointed firearms at them.
The juvenile's cellphone was stolen, according to the release.
Detectives continued the investigation and later named Spearman and two others as suspects. He was arrested on the warrant as deputies responded to the shots fired call on Victoria Drive.
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According to online jail records, Spearman also faces charges of aggravated criminal damage, felony assault by drive-by shooting, second-degree murder and obstruction of justice (evidence tampering).
Spearman remains in the Rapides Parish Detention Center #1. The bail on one charge of second-degree murder charge has been increased to $1 million. Bail for the drive-by shooting charge also has been set at $1 million.
It's not clear if the second homicide charge is connected to the Aug. 4 incident or another incident. Details on these charges were not available on Monday because of the Presidents Day holiday.
Total bail has been set at $2,425,000.
The March 27 hearing still is on the docket, according to Rapides Parish Clerk of Court online records.
This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Total bail now set at more than $2 million for Tayshaun Spearman
