A Houma woman found guilty last month of the attempted second-degree murder of her husband two years ago was given a 30-year prison sentence Friday.
In the early morning of June 20, 2015, Ronda Giroir, 45, shot Dane Giroir, 32, during an argument that erupted hours earlier at a local bar, prosecutors said.
A jury convicted Giroir of attempted murder on May 12. District Judge George Larke sentenced her without the benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.
“I respect and agree with the judge’s decision,” said Assistant District Attorney Sye Broussard, who prosecuted the case along with Assistant District Attorney Dixie Brown. “I know he didn’t take his duty lightly. He looked at all the evidence including any mitigating circumstances, and I feel he delivered a just sentence for the crime that was committed.”
Ronda Giroir’s Houma defense attorney Garyland Wallis made a motion for a new trial but was denied Thursday.
Dane Giroir said during testimony the shooting was sparked by an argument that began at the Vino! Piano Bar during his ex-wife’s 25th high school reunion celebration on June 19, 2015, when he jokingly suggested they bring another woman home for sex.
The Giroirs left the bar shortly after midnight, but their argument only escalated when they got back to their apartment at 213 B Southland Circle, Dane Giroir said. The conflict turned physical when Ronda Giroir punched him in the face.
Dane Giroir said he tried to “diffuse the situation” by leaving the room, but when he later walked out of the bathroom he saw his wife standing beside their bed aiming an empty pistol at him.
The victim said his former wife then went out to the parking lot, retrieved a second handgun from her Ford Focus and pointed the weapon at him while they were in the kitchen. Only this time the gun was loaded.
“I said, ‘What the (expletive) are you going to do, shoot me?’ Right when I finished that last word, I had a bullet in my chest,” Dane Giroir said during testimony.
A bleeding Dane Giroir crawled across the apartment floor to find a phone but couldn’t muster the strength to reach one, he said. It was his wife who ultimately called 911.
Terrebonne sheriff’s deputies said they responded to Ronda Giroir’s 911 call at 1:14 a.m. and found her husband in the living room with a single gunshot wound to the chest. He was transported to Terrebonne General Medical Center with a bullet lodged into his lung.
The couple divorced after the shooting.
Before the judge handed down the sentence, both the victim and defendant addressed the court, Broussard said.
“The victim said now that he has two little boys, he would like to see a sentence long enough to where they can grow up and not have to worry about Ronda getting out and harming them,” Broussard said. “Ronda looked at Dane’s family and told them she was sorry she put them through this.”
