DA Warren Montgomery reports that on Tuesday, August 29, 48 YO Rene Murrell of Lacombe pled guilty to attempted first degree rape and sexual battery and was sentenced by District Judge Raymond Childress to 50 years in prison without parole.
On July 4, 2021, the 66 YO victim was riding her bicycle on the Tammany Trace in Lacombe when she encountered the defendant who was walking on the Trace. He sexually assaulted her as she begged him to stop.
After assaulting her, the defendant fled.
Two “good Samaritans” stopped to help the victim and while doing so, noticed a cellphone on the ground. The victim said the phone did not belong to her. Detectives were able to determine the abandoned cell phone belonged to the defendant. The defendant was located and when questioned, denied being on the Trace. Detectives secured surveillance video from nearby businesses which captured the defendant in the area of the Trace during the time frame of the crime. Laboratory analysis of evidence collected from the victim’s body and clothing confirmed the presence of the defendant’s DNA under the victim’s fingernails, on her shorts, tank top, and undergarments.
The defendant’s criminal history includes five prior sexual assaults, all of which occurred in St. Bernard Parish.
