By Monique Roth
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — A person of interest named Thursday in a December murder investigation voluntarily walked in to the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office Friday and confessed to the violent killing of a 52-year-old LaPlace man.

Sgt. Dane Clement said Carlos Parrilla Jr., 23, walked in Friday to the Sheriff Office’s Criminal Investigations Division and met with detectives regarding the murder of Juan Jose Rivera, who was stabbed to death Dec. 2 in LaPlace.

During the interview, Clement said Parrilla confessed to the murder of Rivera before being arrested and booked for second-degree murder.

Sheriff Mike Tregre said in December video surveillance captured what appeared to be the build up and aftermath of Rivera’s death. The actual killing, however, was not captured on tape, Tregre said.

Deputies, who responded to the 100 block of Montegut Avenue in LaPlace Dec. 2 following the report of a bleeding man in the street, found Rivera unresponsive and not breathing with an apparent stab wound in the chest.

Rivera was pronounced dead on the scene.