Sentencings for murder, officer arraigned: A wrap from Rapides Parish court cases

Melissa Gregory, Alexandria Town Talk
Updated ·4 min read
Two men were sentenced this week in Rapides Parish in homicide cases dating back almost four years, and an Alexandria Police Department officer was arraigned on a felony malfeasance charge.
Two men were sentenced this week in Rapides Parish in homicide cases dating back almost four years, and an Alexandria Police Department officer was arraigned on a felony malfeasance charge.

Two men were sentenced this week in Rapides Parish in homicide cases dating back almost four years, and an Alexandria Police Department officer was arraigned on a felony malfeasance charge.

On Tuesday, 29-year-old Kyle Lucien Ryland was sentenced to three years of probation for the December 2019 shooting death of 56-year-old Steven Wayne Saucier.

The two had gotten into an argument in the area of Hog Lake Road and La. Highway 454 in Kolin, according to the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office at the time of Ryland's arrest. He pulled out a gun and shot Saucier, who died at the scene.

Kyle Ryland arrest: Pineville man charged after argument ends in fatal shooting

Ryland was arrested on a second-degree murder charge but was indicted on a charge of manslaughter. He pleaded guilty in September to a lesser felony charge of negligent homicide, which has a maximum sentence of five years.

On Thursday, Alexandria resident Sterling Terrel Brown Jr. was sentenced to life in prison for the December 2019 killing of his father, 46-year-old Sean Henderson.

Brown, 28, was found guilty of second-degree murder by a Rapides Parish jury in September. He was indicted on the charge in November 2021, months after his arrest.

His sentence is to be served without the possibility of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Also on Thursday, police officer Jim Odee Lewis pleaded not guilty to a charge of malfeasance in office. A pretrial conference was set for Jan. 3.

Lewis was placed on administrative leave by the department after his Aug. 4 arrest by Louisiana State Police on charges of malfeasance in office and injuring public records. He only was formally charged with malfeasance, according to online Rapides Parish Clerk of Court records.

Jim Lewis arrest: Alexandria police officer arrested, accused of lying to arrest person on felony

He is accused of inflating the value of goods allegedly stolen by a person, which allowed him to charge the person with a felony instead of a misdemeanor. The department asked State Police to investigate the incident in June.

An email sent to the department on Lewis' status wasn't immediately returned Thursday afternoon.

In other criminal cases this past week:

  • Victor Paul Bellino pleaded no contest Thursday to a reduced charge of manslaughter in the May 2021 shooting death of an off-duty Rapides Parish Sheriff's deputy. Bellino, 54, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the May 15, 2021, slaying of 40-year-old Mark Lewis. Deputies found both Bellino and Lewis with gunshot wounds when they responded to a disturbance call. Lewis died at the scene. Bellino was hospitalized and was arrested later that month. In a no contest plea, a defendant accepts the punishment while maintaining their innocence.

  • Nicholas Earl Holmes had a trial set for March 4. Holmes, also known as Nicolas Holmes, was one of three people arrested two days after the May 16 fatal shooting of Derrick Harris, 19, in Glenmora. Holmes, 21, remains in the Rapides Parish Detention #1 with bail set at more than $1.5 million on the charges of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder. He also is serving time on unrelated charges, according to online jail records. Another defendant, 19-year-old Jason Deangelo Walker of Alexandria, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit second-degree murder.

  • Dentrell L. Burns, 18, pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter on Thursday. Burns was charged with killing Sandy King, 16, on May 11, 2021. Burns was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

  • The first-degree murder trial of Devonte Ellis Stafford was continued after defense attorney Phillip Robinson asked for a delay. Rapides Parish Assistant District Attorney Charles Johnson had no objection, so the new date of Feb. 5 was selected. Stafford is accused of killing 9-month-old baby Dontae Leon Francis on Jan. 20, 2020.

  • Donald Ray Sias Jr., 33, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to a charge of second-degree murder. He is one of two people arrested in the death of 42-year-old Rochaune Lei Prenell, whose body was found on April 25 by a grass-cutting crew on La. Highway 1. A pretrial conference was set for Jan. 24.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Rapides cases: Men sentenced in homicide cases; officer arraigned