Reactions to Stafford verdict range from relief to outrage

After 17 months of waiting for a verdict in the death of a child, members of two families sat in a courtroom last Friday as the jury foreman pronounced Derrick Stafford “guilty” of manslaughter of 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis and the attempted manslaughter of the boy’s father, Christopher Few.

Sentencing was set for 11 a.m. today in 12th Judicial District Court Judge Billy Bennett’s courtroom in the Avoyelles Courthouse in Marksville.

Stafford had been charged with 2nd degree murder and attempted 2nd degree murder in connection with the Nov. 3, 2015 shooting incident at the dead-end of Martin Luther King Dr. The murder charge would have carried a mandatory life sentence without benefit of parole or reduction of sentence. Manslaughter carries a sentence of 10 to 40 years, but the minimum sentence is 20 years when a firearm is used. The attempted manslaughter sentence is half of that.

Bennett has the option of making the sentences run back-to-back or at the same time.

Stafford and co-defendant Norris Greenhouse Jr. were moonlighting as Ward 2/Marksville City Marshal’s deputies when they pursued Few for about two miles through city streets. When Few refused to stop his vehicle, he was hemmed in at the dead-end in front of the Marksville State Historic Site Indian mound park where the two men fired 18 bullets into the car. Of those, 14 were matched to Stafford’s .40 cal. Glock and four came from Greenhouse’s Glock.

Greenhouse’s trial for 2nd degree murder and attempted 2nd degree murder is set for June 12.

MIX OF EMOTIONS

Reaction to the end of the trial was a mix of emotions for those watching the drama throughout the week.

“I’m just tired right now,” Cathy Mardis, Jeremy’s maternal grandmother, said. “I think the state did an excellent job and I am pleased with Judge Bennett and his decisions during the week.”

Ms. Mardis lives in Hattiesburg, Miss., but said she has spent so much time in Avoyelles Parish over the past 17 months that she almost feels like this is home.

Stafford’s sister, Earlita Stafford of Alexandria, said the verdict “is unfair and racist. I know my brother is not the monster they made him out to be. The trial was unfair. Judge Bennett was unfair. I do not agree with that at all.”

She said her brother risked his life to protect and serve Marksville and other communities as a police officer.

“My heart goes out to the Few family,” Ms. Stafford added.

Few’s sister, Candace Few of Hessmer, said it had been “a long two weeks” and she was glad the outcome “was in our favor.”

Defense attorney Jonathan Goins said he would be filing an appeal soon and will seek a post-conviction bond.

“Of course, I am not pleased with my client’s conviction,” he said. “It was a responsive verdict to a lesser charge, so Mr. Stafford will not be looking at spending the rest of life in prison.”

As Goins and co-counsel Christopher LaCour walked into the courthouse elevator, one of them commented, “The jury decided to split the baby” in coming back with a verdict less than 2nd degree murder but still a conviction.

AN EERY ECHO

The comment was an eery echo of the defense team’s first statements on the case.

In his opening statement, Goins referred to the Biblical story of King Solomon saying he would resolve a dispute between two women who claimed the same infant by cutting the child in half. The real mother told the king to give the child to the other woman rather than kill him.

Goins said Few should have been willing to do whatever was needed to protect his child from harm.

David Bolgiano, the defense’s “use of force” expert, said he was disappointed that Bennett would not allow him to testify to his opinion on whether Stafford was justified in firing his weapon.

“I would have testified that based on the evidence, he had acted reasonably in that situation,” Bolgiano said. “What we learn in hindsight is irrelevant.”

Comments from other observers indicated a guilty verdict was expected and wanted.

“That baby needs justice,” Geraldine Juneau of Marksville said. “The trial was good. The state had a lot of evidence.”

“This whole thing has been sad, really sad,” Jacquelyn Villemarette of Mansura said. “There is so much pain on both sides, but justice needs to be done. He took a child’s life.”

Clinton Rabalais of Cottonport came to the courthouse on March 20 as a prospective juror, but was not selected for the jury.

“I got interested in it and decided to watch the whole trial,” Rabalais said. “The state definitely proved its case.”