Trial underway for Golden Meadow man accused of drowning girlfriend

A morning of day drinking ended tragically in the evening with one dead and another in jail. Attorneys now argue about how Dione Cheramie drowned.

Travis Orso is accused of drowning Cheramie on the evening of May 21, 2020 and faces charges of second-degree murder, which carries a life sentence.

The trial is in Judge Rebecca Robichaux's courtroom with prosecutors Jason Chatagnier and Morgan Gravois of the Lafourche Parish District Attorney's Office representing the state, and defense attorneys George Ledet and Tracy Schwab representing Orso. Opening statements took place on Wednesday.

"Her whole mouth was filled with mud as well as her nostrils," Rickie Cheramie said recalling that he had to scoop the mud out of her mouth during CPR. "I was trying to blow in her but she was packed with mud," he said.

Witness Rickie Cheramie, no relation to Dione, was the first person on the scene. He lived near Bayou Lafourche where the drowning occurred and heard the commotion that Orso and Dione Cheramie were causing. He ran to the scene and said he saw Orso pushing her and swearing.

Ledet asked Cheramie if Orso was yelling for help, and Cheramie said no. Orso calling for help was a key point in Ledet's opening argument and he pressed the question asking if someone testified otherwise if Rickie Cheramie would dispute the claim. Cheramie maintained flatly that he would.

"Yes, because I was the first on the scene," he said. "He wasn't yelling help because when I yelled at him he would have yelled, 'come here,' or something like that."

Rickie Cheramie ran to the edge of the bayou and before he jumped in the water Orso told him to call 911 because his girlfriend had drowned. Rickie Cheramie did and said when he turned back around he saw Dione Cheramie's lifeless body floating face down.

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He leaped into the water and the two pulled Dione Cheramie to the bayou's edge. Another neighbor, Travis Bruce arrived on scene by this time and Bruce and Rickie Cheramie pulled Dione Cheramie from the water and turned her over to perform CPR.

Orso left the water, walked to the back of his truck, and Rickie Cheramie said he saw Orso drink Bruce's beer while he and Bruce tried to resuscitate Orso's girlfriend. Bruce left it on the edge of the truck when he helped Rickie Cheramie pull the woman from the water.

Both the prosecutors and defense agree that Orso and Dione Cheramie had been heavily intoxicated on May 21. Chatagnier argues that Orso stopped by the bayou with the intent to kill his then girlfriend.

Ledet argues that the drowning was her own fault and Orso didn't react quickly enough to help her because he misjudged the situation. Ledet also argued that Orso couldn't have had the intent to kill Cheramie because he was simply too intoxicated to plan something like that.

Orso and Cheramie visited his stepson Shane Hotard before the drowning occurred. Orso had been married to Hotard's mother for many years prior to the date. Since his mother passed away the year before, he knew Orso was dating someone new, but this was the first time he met her.

Hotard described his stepfather's behavior as "sloppy," and he took Orso onto the porch to keep him away from the children. After an hour or more Hotard asked Orso to leave. According to Hotard, altercations broke out and a neighbor Margaret Pitre stepped in to diffuse the situation.

She and Hotard tried to convince Cheramie to drive because she appeared to be the more sober of the two. According to both of their testimonies, this angered Orso who thought Cheramie had his keys. Pitre said he advanced at her in "a threatening manner" and Charamie threw her can of beer in his face and yelled not to touch her.

Pitre had been Orso's neighbor for many years while Orso was married to Hotard's mother. She said she had never seen this side of him, and Chatagnier asked if he was looking for a fight.

"Yeah he wanted Shane to go in the street with him to have a fight," she said.

Orso eventually found his keys in his own pocket and the two left, but stopped at the front of the road where Pitre said she saw them argue for a time before departing. She said she tried to convince Cheramie to let her take her home instead of Orso, but Cheramie insisted.

About 40 minutes later she learned Cheramie had died.

This article originally appeared on Daily Comet: Golden Meadow man faces trial, accused of drowning girlfriend