A Ponchatoula man was arrested for murder Sunday (December 29), less than 24 hours after a man was found dead near the boat launch on Lake Road in Lacombe.
Shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday (December 28), a patrol deputy with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s 2nd District was conducting a routine patrol on Lake Road Saturday evening when he observed a male lying in the roadway. The man was pronounced dead on scene from what appeared to be several gunshot wounds.
Detectives with the STPSO Major Crimes Unit were called in to investigate and less than 24 hours later the individual responsible, Osmer Noel Villalta-Lopez (DOB 10/19/2004), was in custody. Villalta-Lopez was booked Sunday night into the St. Tammany Parish Correctional Center on one count each of First-Degree Murder and Obstruction of Justice.
St. Tammany Parish Coroner Dr. Christopher Tape identified Yelson Hernan Garcia Banegas, who turned 25 last Thursday, as the man found dead at the Lacombe Boat Launch Saturday night. Banegas is believed to have been a resident of Lacombe. Autopsy results are pending, after which Tape will make a formal ruling on cause and manner of death.
