By ROBIN SHANNON
L’Observateur

EDGARD — A Kenner man received a 25-year prison sentence this week after he pleaded guilty to killing a Reserve man in 2006, according to a release from the St. John District Attorney’s Office.

Kendrell Lewis, 28, was sentenced by District Court Judge Mary Hotard Becnel after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with the shooting death of 28-year-old Morial D. Johnson, said Maj. Mike Tregre, public information officer for the district attorney’s office. Tregre said Lewis entered his plea in court on April 20.

According to a report from the St. John Sheriff’s Office, witnesses told investigators that Johnson was shot once in the abdomen on March 17, 2006, when he attempted to break up a fight between Lewis and another man in the parking lot of Sugarland Center in the 1800 block of Airline Highway in LaPlace. The report indicates the two men were in an argument over a woman.

Johnson was transported to River Parishes Hospital in LaPlace and succumbed to his injuries April 4, 2006. Lewis was arrested and booked with second-degree murder a few weeks later after reporting to an appointment with his probation officer, Tregre said. He said eyewitness accounts linked Lewis to the shooting.