State rejects defense's plea bargain offer for 1 of 3 charged in January slaying

The prosecution and defense are not close to any plea bargain in the case of Tremaine Deshun Veal, one of three people indicted in the January killing of Ball resident Deven Slade Brooks.

The state, represented by Rapides Parish Assistant District Attorney Christopher Bowman, hasn't made any offers to Veal, he told 9th Judicial District Court Judge Greg Beard during a pretrial hearing on Monday.

But Veal's attorney, Darrell Hickman, told Beard he did make an offer to Bowman. Although Hickman didn't say what it was, he said Bowman "actually laughed at my offer."

Veal was indicted in early April in Brooks' death, as were Terrance K. Lavalais and Jamaria Xavier Randle, on charges of second-degree murder.

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Brooks had been reported as a possible kidnapping victim to the Ball Police Department on Jan. 9. His body was found on Jan. 11 on the bank of the Red River near a city park in Alexandria.

He had been shot in his head, and his body was bound by cables, zip ties and duct tape.

At a May bond reduction hearing for Lavalais, Alexandria Police Department Detective Jason Mouliere testified investigators believed the three were after Brooks' iPhone and a credit card connected to it.

He also testified that Randle and Brooks knew each other before the incident.

The pretrial conference was continued to Sept. 15.

Randle has a pretrial conference set for July 21, and Lavalais has one set for Aug. 11.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Hearing for Tremaine Veal in Deven Brooks' slaying continued to Sept. 15