THIBODAUX, La. — A Lafourche district judge acquitted a former Thibodaux High student on a terrorizing charge Monday.
Judge Christopher Boudreaux granted Keith Usea’s motion for acquittal after a day of testimony on Usea’s alleged plans to kill some of his fellow students.
The case was heard via a bench trial, meaning there was no jury. Boudreaux rejected a previous request to have the case tried in juvenile court.
Boudreaux said the Lafourche District Attorney’s Office failed to establish enough evidence to support the terrorism charge because there was no proof Usea planned to carry out his threat.
“We felt as though the facts of this case met the burden of proof, and we stand by that,” said Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Richard, who prosecuted the case.
As Boudreaux dismissed the case, Usea’s family members were visibly relieved and quickly asked if he would be allowed to attend the vocational tech school to finish his high school degree. Usea has been under house arrest since March 2018 and has not been allowed near educational facilities.
Now 18, Usea was accused of threatening to kill a student the morning of Feb. 19, 2018.
He was charged with terrorizing and simple assault after a student reported Usea made a threat to kill another student that morning. The assault charge has been dropped.
Another Thibodaux High student, Mason Dupre, was charged in March with terrorizing after allegedly threatening to shoot other students.
The District Attorney’s Office said that charge was dropped several months ago after investigators determined Dupre never made any threats.
One of Usea’s former classmates, Kolby Percle, testified that Usea approached him the morning of Feb. 19, 2018, staring at him and a group of friends.
“He looked at me and said, ‘I could kill you right now if I wanted to,’” Percle said.
Usea allegedly told another student, a juvenile, that he “made the list.”
Rumors of a list detailing students Usea wanted to harm or kill had circulated through the school for at least a year before the Feb. 19, 2018 incident, witnesses said.
Usea also confessed to making the list, first on paper, then in his mind after destroying the original paper copy, according to an audio recording of an interview he had with police last year.
Richard played the hour-long interview between Usea and Lafourche Sheriff’s Office detectives during the trial.
About halfway through the recording, Usea was allowed to leave the courtroom. His attorney, Benjamin Comeaux, said the recording was angering his client and that he needed a break.
During the interview, Usea told detectives, “I regret it,” and that his “good side took over” and told him to stop making the lists.
“I wasn’t going to go through with it,” he said, after detailing his plan to take a shotgun to school in a wheeled bag and shoot the two students on his list during seventh hour when there would be fewer students around who could get hurt.
Usea said he decided not to go through with the plan because it was “too high risk.”
When detectives asked him about what happened with Percle, Usea said Percle got “a killer vibe off my face” and told him, “If you don’t stop, there will be a shooting here and you’ll be one of those people getting the bullet.”
Usea said he had been bullied by other students, and those who were physical toward him or shouted his name during class were put on the list.
In the days following the arrest, the school sent out a letter to parents about the incident while the school district and Sheriff’s Office made public announcements.
Comeaux contended it was those announcements that caused panic, not Usea’s threat. School Board Child Welfare and Attendance Supervisor Barry Filce testified that in the days following the incident, student absences and check-outs increased significantly.
On Feb. 19, the day of the incident, 56 students were absent and 14 checked out. On Feb. 21, 86 were absent and 345 checked out. On Feb. 22, absences totaled 265.
“We proved that the defendant made a threatening statement to another student and also referenced a kill list. We also showed that during the days that immediately followed there were more than 300 student sign-outs in one day, and over 250 absences on another. That, coupled with the fear it caused among the threatened students and their families, warranted a serious response from us and law enforcement,” Richard said.
While Boudreaux said the testimony was credible, the story became fuzzy as it was translated to third parties on the day of the incident.
He said Usea made some “very troubling” statements to police, but “there is no evidence action was taken in furtherance of those thoughts,” the judge said.
Comeaux said there was no evidence that Usea planned to carry out a violent crime, or that one was imminent.
The incident itself wasn’t reported until the end of the school day, he said.
″(Usea) had no intent to cause general members of the public to fear for their safety,” Comeaux said.
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Staff Writer Julia Arenstam can be reached at 448-7636 or julia.arenstam@houmatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter at@JuliaArenstam.
