COVINGTON, La. — A St. Tammany Parish grand jury indicted Antonio Tyson, 49, on Wednesday after he was charged with murdering two Covington religious leaders last November.
Tyson was arrested by police in November after Priest Otis Young and Pastoral Associate Ruth Prats were found dead and severely burned in Covington behind a glass-making company building downtown.
Young and Prats were religious leaders at the St. Peter Church in Covington. Although Father Young had retired last July due to health issues after suffering a stroke. Prats had also retired to look after him.
Police said in December they believed that Young and Prats did not know Tyson prior to crossing paths with the accused killer.
The suspect, Tyson, had been previously sentenced to 40 years in 1993 for forcible rape, 40 years for armed robbery and 30 years for aggravated burglary.
However, those were concurrent sentences, meaning Tyson was effectively obligated to serve only the longest of the these three sentences; 40 years.
Tyson was released early for good behavior last August by the Louisiana Department of Corrections. Authorities believe that Tyson went on to kill both suspects only three months later.
After Tyson's November arrest, he attempted to escape from custody in December and was subsequently transferred to the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola.
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