A Minden man accused of aggravated assault with a firearm has entered a plea of guilty in front of 26th Judicial District Judge Parker Self.
Webster Parish District Court records show Marquette Juwan Burks, 18, of the 200 block of Central School Road in Dubberly, is set for sentencing on the charge March 14, 2016.
Burks is one of four originally arrested for attempted murder in September in connection with an incident that occurred on Oscar Moore Road.
Assistant District Attorney Hugo Holland says charges against the other three were rejected, adding that does not mean he thinks they are not guilty of a crime, just not the crime of attempted murder.
“As you know, the police only have to have ‘probable cause’ to make an arrest–a relatively low burden, while in order for me to convict in court I must have ‘proof beyond a reasonable doubt,’ the highest legal burden in the law,” he said. “It is as much my responsibility to vigorously and zealously pursue the guilty against whom I can prove a case as it is to reject those cases which cannot be proven in court, even when an arrest has been made by the police. That does not mean I think the other three that I released were not guilty–there was just no way to prove it in court.”
Maj. Dustin Reynolds, with the Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office, said at the time of their arrests, four suspects approached the victim’s residence on Oscar Moore Road and attempted to get him to come out and fight. The victim was outside and he ran into the house, he said.
“As he was going into the house, a series of four or five shots were fired,” Reynolds said. “They ran down to their vehicle on Oscar Moore Road and took off. The victim filed a report and the sheriff’s office began looking into it.”
Arrested in connection with the case included Deravion Deshun Kinsey, 18, of the 6300 block of Highway 531 in Heflin, Michael Jamal Bradford, 17, of the 100 block of Oscar Moore Road in Dubberly, and Antwaune Cortez Loud, 26, of the 200 block of Leroy Tillman Road in Heflin.
Two of the three arrested turned themselves in, according to police reports. Kinsey came to the patrol office where he was questioned about the incident and subsequently placed under arrest. Burks made arrangements to turn himself in. He was taken into custody and transported to the criminal investigation division and questioned. A warrant was served on him.
Bradford was arrested at his grandfather’s residence.
Loud was taken into custody by Minden Police on unrelated charges.