By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A St. John the Baptist Parish jury reached a guilty verdict in a trial against two men charged with the murder of a Reserve woman and the attempted murder a Garyville man in Reserve in 2008.

Jules Robertson of Reserve and Calvin Mitchell of Maurepas were each convicted of the second-degree murder of Nakeisha Joseph and the attempted second-degree murder of Ron James in a weeklong trial that ended Feb. 18, according to a release from District Attorney Tom Daley.

Daley said the jury deliberated for a little more than two hours before coming back with the guilty verdict.

According to a St. John Sheriff’s Office report, on Dec. 20, 2008, Joseph and James were sitting inside James’s vehicle in the 200 block of East 24th Street when two men approached and attempted to rob them. James, who testified at the trial, told deputies during the investigation that the men, armed with guns, approached and yelled, “Give it up!”

The report said James slammed on the car’s accelerator, but as the car sped off, the men opened fire on the vehicle. Joseph, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was hit multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene, while James suffered gunshot wounds to the leg and was treated and released from River Parishes Hospital.

Daley said assistant district attorneys William O’Regan III and Kerry Brown handled the prosecution in the case. Attorneys Lantz Savage and Tomy Acosta of the Public Defender’s Office represented Robertson and Mitchell

“I wish to thank the jury for their diligent deliberation, the Sheriff’s Office Detective Bureau, Crime Scene Technicians, State Crime Lab Technicians and other law enforcement officials for their hard work and dedication,” Daley said in a statement. “I’d also like to thank the lay witnesses who courageously appeared and testified before the court.”

Sentencing for Robertson and Mitchell will take place April 18 at the St. John the Baptist Parish Courthouse in Edgard.