Life Sentence Handed Down Today in St. Landry Parish
A sentencing hearing was had on Thursday, July 10th
, following St. Landry Parish
District Attorney’s conviction of Sanplice Christopher Simien (48). On March 20, 2025,
a jury found Simien guilty of two counts of First-Degree Murder and three Counts of
Attempted First Degree Murder. Prior to handing down the sentence, the court heard
from the families of the deceased victims, Michael Thomas (29) and Ladarious Keller
(20). Along with Thomas and Keller, three other young men were in a parked truck on
Cook Street in Morrow, Louisiana, back in October of 2020, when Simien approached
the truck from the driver’s side and opened fire with a handgun in each hand. Today,
Simien was sentenced to service life imprisonment at hard labor without probation, parole
or suspension of sentence for each count of murder, and he was sentenced to thirty (30)
years in prison for each count of attempted murder, with all sentences to be served
concurrently.
By: __________________
Chad P. Pitre
St. Landry Parish District Attorney
