DA Warren Montgomery reports that on Thursday, October 14th, a St. Tammany Parish jury unanimously found 38 YO Rudy Emanuel Melerine of Folsom guilty as charged of two counts of attempted first-degree murder of his parents.
District Judge John Keller presided.
On June 20, 2017 in the early morning hours, St. Tammany Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to a residence in Folsom. Upon arrival, deputy Jesse Smith found one of the victims, who was later identified as the defendant’s mother, in the driveway of the home in which all three family members lived. She had obvious injuries to her head and face and was bleeding. She directed officers to a back bedroom where the defendant was attacking her husband.
Officers restrained Melerine and he was arrested.
The parents were transported to the hospital where doctors treated them for multiple injuries to the head and face.
At trial, the victim/mother testified that both she and her husband were asleep when the defendant broke into their locked bedroom in the early morning hours.
Both victims testified that the night before, the defendant made comments to them indicating that he was fostering anger and resentment toward them, and that he maybe was on drugs.
Attorneys for the defense asked the jury to find him guilty of the lesser charge of Aggravated battery, arguing that he did not have the “specific intent to kill” them, because he was likely impaired by drugs.
The jury deliberated about 40 minutes before unanimously voting “guilty” on both counts of attempted first-degree murder.
Assistant District Attorneys Blake Peters and Luke Lancaster prosecuted the case, and St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office members Corporal Jesse Smith, Sgt. Justin Parker and Crime Scene Technician Megan Sellstrom, were in charge of the investigation.