Lafayette DA Wants to Try Lavergne For Shunick, Pate Cases Together

Shortly after the arrest of Brandon Lavergne as a suspect in the Mickey Shunick case, Lafayette police announced that he was also the prime suspect in the 1999 murder of Lisa Pate.

Now, the Lafayette District Attorney's Office says they want to try him for both murders at the same time. Here's the story:

The murders of Mickey Shunick and Lisa Pate may go before a jury at the same time, District Attorney Mike Harson said.

“As of right now, I believe the two cases will be tried together,” he wrote in an e-mail response to The Daily Advertiser’s inquiries Monday.

Brandon Scott Lavergne, 33, of Swords in rural St. Landry Parish, was indicted by a grand jury last week for the first-degree murder of Shunick and Pate.

Harson also said it could take up to three years to bring Lavergne to trial.

“It is not uncommon to take up to three years to get capital cases to trial so a two-year estimate may, in fact, be optimistic,” he wrote.

Source:The advertiser