Living In Fear

A local family wants the community to know more of the facts concerning a recent media article about their loved one who was the subject of two alleged murders that happened in 2017 and 2019. Devonte Coleman was arrested, charged, and convicted on murder charges stemming from the deaths of Junius Benton in 2017 and Darrell Stevenson in 2019. Colem Through a series of legal maneuvers, Coleman would have his 2017 conviction on negligent homicide overturned by the Louisiana Supreme Court. Additionally, family and evidence would clear him in the 2019 incident, with family members "taking exceptions" to an article saying that Coleman "escaped" the murder charge. The family said that it had "no control" over how the legal proceedings would play out after Coleman's arrests and that based on the defense that Coleman received from his counsel and through court rulings and the evidence presented, the system prevailed in his favor. The family also wanted to point out that a plea agreement between the defense and prosecutors resulted in the dismissal of the second-degree murder charge in the 2019 Stevenson case. The family said the charges were further reduced to aggravated battery in the 2019 case. The family contends that Coleman did exactly what anyone else would have done to prove their innocence in court.

The family also highlighted how Coleman was portrayed as a "dangerous man" through the inclusion of three arrests over the last several months that were featured in the article. The family said the article doesn't tell all the facts surrounding Coleman's arrests, believing he is a "victim of harassment" by local authorities. They point out that concerning the March 5, 2023 incident, some individuals were performing "burnouts" or spinning the tires, causing smoke and streaks to appear. Coleman was not involved but was "recognized" by officers because of who he was and was arrested for allegedly careless operation of a vehicle, resisting an officer, and threatening a police officer.

The family said that the harassment continued in May when Coleman was pulled over for allegedly not using a proper turn signal after driving in the Berg Jones Lane area around 10:00 PM. He was taken into custody, not ticketed for an alleged expired driver's license, and no proof of insurance. He was released early the following morning, around 4:00 AM on May 27, 2023. Later that day, Coleman was arrested again on an "unauthorized entry into an inhabited dwelling" charge that was mentioned in the article. He was alleged to have had a gun on him, though one was never recovered/mentioned in the arrest charges of resisting an officer and the "unauthorized" entry charge. In the incident concerning the June 16, 2023 arrest, the family said that Coleman left to get something to eat. Within seconds, an MPD unit pulled behind the vehicle resulting in Coleman being arrested. Coleman remained in the vehicle while another suspect allegedly fled. The tint on the windows was too dark, so the vehicle was stopped as a search began. A single bullet casing was allegedly found, but no weapon. Coleman was charged with simple criminal damage to a police unit. For the Coleman family, it has been one thing after another, with what they say is constant hounding and harassment. It seems that he can't go out of his door without a police car showing up seconds later, but the family's biggest fear is that there may come a time when Coleman is all alone with no one around, and a swarm of police officers has him surrounded. The fear is that Coleman may somehow end up dead. And now that the narrative is out there that Coleman "is always" armed with a gun, the fear is that a bullet may end his life. He didn't "escape" any murder charges as alleged. He just wants to be left alone.

Photo Devonte Coleman