MARINGOUIN — Siblings from Maringouin in a “murder for hire” plot stood before Judge Alvin Batiste Jr. on Sept. 26 for their bond hearing. After several hours, Judge Batiste set their bonds despite the district attorney asking for the suspects to be held without any bond: $2,300,000 for David Brooks Jr. and $1,270,000 for Rilonda Brooks.
Conditions of the bonds include no firearms, they must wear an ankle monitor, they cannot have contact with the victim’s family, and they must abide an 8 p.m. curfew.
The third suspect, Johnnie Hicks, has a bond set at $1,250,000. The Mississippi Department of Corrections has a hold on Hicks.
At the hearing, District Attorney Tony Clayton argued that the three should be held without bond. Judge Batiste denied that request and set bonds.
Clayton believes that setting bond for the three individuals is going to put witnesses’ lives in danger. He is asking the sheriff’s office to take extra precautions to protect those witnesses.
“I put forth a strong case to the court that these people are dangerous,” Clayton told UWK. “These people have millions and millions of dollars, and they paid to kill the person they felt threatened their money.”
“This type of fear-mongering from the State is exactly why we informed the Court that Mr. Clayton’s remarks in the media have already sparked a tidal wave of hate speech and inflammatory rhetoric online. If this case can’t be tried in the court of law as opposed to the court of public opinion, we will seek to have it removed from this venue. Our clients are presumed to be innocent everywhere, it appears, except in Iberville Parish,” said the attorneys representing the Brooks siblings in a joint statement.
On the morning of Aug. 27th, deputies responded to a home in Maringouin for a 65-year-old man, who was found unresponsive. After investigating, deputies learned Herman Harris had been shot one time in the head and likely died from the wound.
The Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested three people: Rilonda Brooks, David Brooks, Jr. and Johnnie Hicks. Officials are calling it a “murder for hire” case.
Hicks was found and arrested Sept. 18 by the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force on behalf of the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office. Hicks was transported to the criminal investigation department where he refused to speak to officials, according to Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Siblings Rilonda and David Brooks Jr. were both arrested Thursday, Sept. 19.
Another suspect, Javadda Lewis, of Mississippi remains at large. He is currently wanted for second-degree murder, solicitation for murder, criminal conspiracy, aggravated burglary and obstruction of justice.
Police are asking for the public’s help in locating Lewis. If you have any information as to his whereabouts, contact Chief Ronnie Hebert with the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office at (225) 687-3553.
David Brooks Jr. is charged with:
- Criminal Conspiracy
- Solicitation for Murder
- Second Degree Murder
- Obstruction of Justice
Rilonda Brooks is charged with:
- Second Degree Murder
- Solicitation for Murder
- Criminal Conspiracy
- Obstruction of Justice
Hicks is charged with:
- Criminal conspiracy
- Solicitation for murder
- Second degree murder
- Aggravated burglary
- Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
- Obstruction of Justice
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