Busted In Acadiana

The teenager accused of fatally slashing the throat of an 8-year-old boy nearly three years ago dropped his insanity defense and pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder according to The Advocate.

Twentieth Judicial District Judge William G. Carmichael did not yet set a sentencing hearing for 19-year-old Trevor Reese in the death of Jackson “Jack” Attuso on June 10, 2010.

Reese was scheduled to go on trial Monday on a count of first-degree murder.

Because Reese was 16 when he attacked the youngster on a recreation trail in The Bluffs on Thompson Creek development, District Attorney Sam D’Aquilla was barred by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from seeking the death penalty against Reese.

When the death penalty is not given in a first-degree murder case, Louisiana law then requires an automatic life sentence without the benefit of parole.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year, however, that mandating a life sentence without any consideration for the possibility of parole is unconstitutional when the murder is committed by a juvenile.

Louisiana law also requires an automatic life sentence without parole for a second-degree murder conviction.

Because of the unique circumstances of Reese’s case, the outcome of a second-degree murder guilty plea is essentially the same as that of a first-degree murder guilty plea.

The hearing Carmichael set after accepting Reese’s guilty plea will consider whether Reese should be given a chance for parole at a future date, in accordance with the high court’s ruling.

The slain boy and a twin brother were born in Russia and adopted by a Clinton couple.

Sheriff J. Austin Daniel said Reese’s parents visited their son in the West Feliciana Parish Jail Wednesday night.