Motive in Deven Brooks' fatal shooting was greed, not jealousy, prosecutors say

Deven Slade Brooks' neighbor began crying on the witness stand Wednesday, testifying that she remembers the way he looked at her as he was being led away from his Ball apartment.

Latoya Jones said Brooks was bound and had tape over his mouth as he was put into the car. She couldn't remember much about those who were taking him, but she recalled how it looked like he was being taken against his will.

"I called 911 because it didn't look right," said Jones, who said she couldn't in good conscience ignore what she saw. "I was just trying to do the right thing."

Jones' revelation came on the first day of testimony in the second-degree murder trial of Jamaria Xavier Randle, which was her 23rd birthday.

She and two others, husband Terrance Lavalais and cousin Tremaine Veal, were arrested by the Alexandria Police Department after Brooks' body was found at Levee Park on Jan. 11, 2022. They were indicted in April 2022.

Lavalais pleaded guilty to the charge during the second day of jury selection. He was sentenced to the mandatory life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension. But Lavalais, who prosecutors have said fired the shot that killed Brooks, has an opportunity to get a reduced sentence if he cooperates during the trials of Randle and Veal.

Randle's attorney, Chad Guillot, asked jurors during his opening statement to remember that deal and consider the credibility of the state's witnesses. He asked them to keep an open mind before they retire to deliberate. He had few questions for the state's witnesses, though.

The first witness Wednesday was Brooks' mother, Candace Blood. She said she and Brooks, as well as other family members, had daily contact. She said he always took one of his grandmothers to her doctors' appointments locally and in Monroe.

'I knew something was wrong'

But he didn't show up for one on Jan. 10, 2022. After learning about that from the grandmother, Blood tried contacting her son but couldn't reach him. Her concern was heightened when she couldn't reach him early the next morning.

"I knew something was wrong," Blood told Rapides Parish Assistant District Attorney Lea Hall.

In his opening statement, Hall said Randle and Brooks had met while she worked as a stripper. He said some strippers can be "parasitic" toward men who give them money and gifts, and Brooks was doing just that.

He bought her a car, a blue Hyundai Sonata and gave her money, he said.

"He picked the wrong person to shower with money," Hall said.

He described Brooks as socially awkward and said Randle was his first girlfriend. The only problem, he said, was Randle already was married to Lavalais, who was in Shreveport for job training when the pair met.

Lavalais eventually returned, and the couple was living together. Hall said Lavalais somehow found out about the relationship with Brooks, but he didn't seem too bothered by it.

He told jurors he believed their two-month relationship was sexual and that it fractured when Randle began demanding more money.

The motivating factor in Brooks' death wasn't jealously, he said, but greed.

Captured on video

Brooks had inherited some money, and Hall said Randle soon was talking every day about a plan to get it. They involved Veal because he had a gun, he said.

The plan was to demand Brooks hand over his financial information at gunpoint. He also told jurors neither Lavalais nor Veal knew Brooks.

During testimony Wednesday, jurors were shown videos from a traffic stop with the Ball Police Department, Walmarts in Alexandria and Pineville, the Target in Alexandria, various automated teller machines and from the Paragon Casino Resort in Marksville.

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The first video played for jurors was the body camera video from Jason Vogel, a former Ball Police Department officer who now is employed by the Duson Police Department in Lafayette Parish.

Vogel pulled Randle over as she was driving Brooks' red Honda Accord the night of Jan. 9, 2022, because the taillights weren't on. As he talks to Randle, she is calm and tells him the car belongs her her boyfriend. She identifies Lavalais, who is in the passenger seat, as her brother.

Hall called Randle's demeanor "psychotic" and "completely detached."

Vogel did write two tickets for Randle not having proper insurance or registration for the car.

The pair was headed to the Kingsville Walmart. They already had been to the Walmart on North Mall Drive in Alexandria, where Randle tried to buy — but then stole — steel bicycle locks, Gorilla tape and zip ties they used on Brooks.

'Wondering what his fate will be'

They tried to buy prepaid gift cards and a cellphone using Brooks' financial information, but they were unsuccessful. But shortly after, they were able to withdraw $800 from Brooks' bank account before going back to his apartment.

Hall said Brooks was "just sitting on the floor, wondering what his fate will be."

As the trio prepared to leave Brooks' apartment, they took a television, a bong and an Xbox. The glass bong fell out of the box Veal was carrying. It broke, and Veal cursed, which attracted the attention of a neighbor.

She called her niece, witness Latoya Jones. When Jones called 911 to report what she saw, she at first thought she'd seen a white woman being abducted. She later realized it was Brooks.

The officer who responded to the call was Vogel, who at first thought Randle might be in danger. Since he had her cellphone number from the traffic stop, he called to check on her.

Randle answered and assured him she was not in danger. He also issued a BOLO, or be on the lookout, to area law enforcement agencies for Brooks' Accord.

But Brooks was killed not long after. Forensic pathologist Dr. Christopher Tape testified that Brooks died quickly after being shot once on his neck, behind his left ear. The .40 caliber bullet then exited through Brooks' right jaw area, breaking it, Tape said.

The gun used to kill Brooks has not been found, but investigators found the cartridge casing at the park.

Brooks also had stippling from gunpowder around the entry site, and Tape estimated the gun was within a foot from Brooks' head when fired.

For the last few hours Wednesday, lead detective Jason Mouliere was on the stand as videos were played for jurors in sequential order. They backed up what Hall had told jurors in his opening statement, that the three tried several times to withdraw money from Brooks' bank account.

They were successful a few times, but denied other times because they'd already taken the maximum daily amount Brooks was allowed to take, which was $800.

Video also showed Randle and Lavalais checking into a room at the Paragon wearing matching tie-dyed hoodies. The two left the next day, about an hour before Brooks' body was found at the park. After leaving, they again went to an ATM to withdraw more money, according to one of the videos.

Prosectors will continue to present their case Thursday morning.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Prosecutors say greed the reason for Deven Brooks' kidnapping, death