#Lafayette louisiana serial killer trial#

Lee was also considered a suspect in a 1993 assault on a young couple in a Zachary graveyard. 'We believe in our hearts that he killed Connie, but we can’t prove it,” Zachary Police Chief David McDavid told Louisiana’s Advocate newspaper in 2016. While Lee was a suspect in the case, no charges were ever filed against him, and no further evidence tying him to the crime has ever been found. Weeks later, the 41-year-old's badly decomposed body was found nude in a local drainage ditch.Īndre Burgos, the former boyfriend of Warner’s teenage daughter, reported seeing a man who looked like Lee watching the family’s house prior to Warner’s death, according to WAFB. In 2000, Lee was convicted of fleeing from officers after attacking Green at a local lounge, and he was sentenced to two years in prison, according to the Associated Press.Ĭonnie Warner went missing from her home in Zachary, Louisiana in August 1992. In 1988, Lee married Jacqueline Denise Sims, and they had two children together. Lee also had a long-term girlfriend, Consandra Green, whom he sometimes lived with. Lee later described himself as a loner, and he also gained a reputation in his neighborhood as a “Peeping Tom” and was arrested multiple times throughout his life for voyeurism, stalking, and burglary, according to the Chicago Tribune. He dropped out in the 11th grade, according to court documents. Tests would reveal Lee had an IQ of 65, reported the Associated Press. He did poorly in school, where he was enrolled in special education classes. Lee was primarily raised by his mother, and he grew up with 13 siblings and half-siblings. Mental illness ran in his family, and his father reportedly suffered from bipolar disorder and psychosis, according to Baton Rouge CBS affiliate WAFB. Francisville, Louisiana, a small town north of Baton Rouge. Lee, whose case is explored in Oxygen’s “ Mark of a Killer,” was born on Nov. 5, 1968 and raised in St. Known in the press as “The Baton Rouge Serial Killer,” his name was Derrick Todd Lee, and although he has been tied to seven deaths and convicted of two murders, the possibility exists he was responsible for more. Preying on people’s kindness, he asked for directions or charmed them with a smile before forcing his way inside women’s homes to assault and murder them. 'Prosecutors in both jurisdictions know that this is a reality and I'm sure would want to do whatever is necessary to prevent the appearance of letting race be a factor in this case,' said Fournet.In the early 2000s, a serial killer snaked his way through the communities of southern Louisiana. But because Dene' is the only African American victim, Fournet says based on studies, cases where the victim is white and the defendant is black are more likely to be prosecuted than when the victim is black. 'I'm ready to get it started but I'm not ready to see everything that happened to her or hear the events of what went on,' said Sterling.īecause of the high profile nature of the case, defense attorney Michele Fournet says every jurisdiction with a stake in the case will go after Derrick Todd Lee. DNA taken from Dene's body conclusively links Lee to her murder.ĭene's brother, Sterling Colomb, Jr. Two days later, her badly beaten body was found in a remote field in Scott, Louisiana near Lafayette. No date has been set, but Lee will have to make a formal appearance in Lafayette within the next 30 days for his arraingnment.ĭene's family reported her missing November 22, 2002. Babin says his office will seek the death penalty.

The Lafayette Parish D.A.'s Office says if Lee is convicted on this first degree murder charge, Lee could face either life in prison or the death penalty. East Baton Rouge District Attorney Doug Moreau is planning to seek the death penalty against Lee.

#Lafayette louisiana serial killer trial#

Lee is already indicted and set to stand trial March 1st in East Baton Rouge parish for the first-degree murder of LSU grad student Charlotte Murray Pace.