On the evening of November 21, 2017, 19-year-old Jake Ducote was fatally shot at the residence he shared with his girlfriend in Moreauville, Louisiana. Jake and his close friend Jesse E. Ducote had spent the day together running errands and firing Jesse’s recently purchased AR-15. Later that night, while Jake was inside the living room, Jesse retrieved the rifle from his truck; the firearm discharged, a single bullet traveled through a window and struck Jake. Jake’s girlfriend, Mallory Lambert, was nearby when the shot occurred.

The Avoyelles Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated and Jesse Ducote was arrested. A grand jury returned a true bill and Jesse was charged with negligent homicide. He initially pleaded not guilty but changed his plea to guilty on the day his trial was set to begin. The court reviewed a Pre-Sentence Investigation Report, family letters, and the police report before imposing a five-year sentence, the maximum under the charge; the judgment noted the violent act, use of a dangerous weapon, and that Jesse’s conduct created risk to more than one person.

If anyone knew Jake, Jesse, or Mallory, or was in Moreauville that night, does anything about the timeline or the events leading up to the shooting stand out to you?