AMY SZPARA

EDGARD – A LaPlace man pled guilty Monday to the murder of a 15-year-old boy. Adrian Dunn, 21, 1507 Grant St., LaPlace, pled guilty to the murder of Keith Williams of Vacherie last month and is already serving a life sentence without the benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. Monday he pled guilty to the murder of Joshua Sanders of LaPlace. Dunn, along with a second man, carjacked Sanders and a friend who were sitting in a car talking on Michael Court in LaPlace on April 3, 2000. The two men were wearing bandannas and hoods and robbed the boys of their valuables at gunpoint. They ordered the boys out of the car, fired a 9mm semi-automatic at them, then took the vehicle. Sanders was hit in the chest with a bullet and later died at River Parishes Hospital. Three days later the two men struck again in Vacherie, killing Keith Williams, 40, who was washing his car at a local car wash. Along with a friend, Huey Oubre, 55, Williams was forced into the car by Dunn and Bell and later forced out of the car on Louisiana Highway 20, where they were shot. Oubre was injured, and Williams died of a gunshot wound to the head inflicted by Dunn. After St. John Sheriff Wayne L. Jones and St. James Sheriff Willy Martin compared the two cases, the similarities led them to believe the crimes were committed by the same people. Rubin Bell, 18, 1828 Lee Drive, LaPlace, was charged along with Dunn in the death of Williams. He is currently awaiting trial. After investigating they charged Dunn and Bell as being responsible for both crimes. First Assistant District Attorney Tom Kliebert Jr. prosecuted the Vacherie case, and after consulting with the family of Williams he accepted the sentence of life with the family’s understanding that Dunn would never be released from prison. In the LaPlace case, William O’Regan III was the prosecutor, and Judge Mary Hotard Becnel presided in the courtroom. Dunn pled guilty to avoid the death penalty, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence, giving Dunn two life sentences.