The homecoming football game in St. Martinville last Friday night was ruined by a deadly shooting.
Deondre Benjamin, 22, was shot dead outside the stadium where St. Martinville was set to host Erath.
“It started off as an argument outside of the tailgate area,” said Ricky Martin, St. Martinville police chief, “and then the argument escalated into a shooting, which was a third party.”
Benjamin died from his injuries at a hospital, and the game inside the stadium was cancelled and declared a “no contest.”
The city has been installing a city-wide camera system, and that system was instrumental in capturing Zackyric Gardner, 22.
“We have a camera outside of the school. We were able to see the vehicle that they were driving, get a license plate (and) track that vehicle around town,” says Martin. “And (we) figured out it went towards Breaux Bridge to I-10.”
With one of the three occupants inside the vehicle being a gang member, investigators figured they were headed to Houston.
“We kind of know they usually run to Texas,” says Martin. “This is their go-to. They go to Houston, because they can blend in and hide.”
St. Martinville Police got in contact with police in Beaumont, Texas; and as the vehicle entered that city along I-10, officers there were in perfect position to pull the vehicle over and take the three people inside, including Gardner, into custody.
Gardner is charged with second-degree murder; all three are jailed in Beaumont and are awaiting extradition back to St. Martin Parish.
Martin says the collateral damage was that the shooting ruined what was supposed to be a festive atmosphere at the stadium for the homecoming game.
“These guys were playing their last homecoming game as seniors,” Martin says. “As somebody who plays sports, I know how tough that can be. Because they’re not going to play the game, so they’re not going to have a homecoming game. And even if they replayed it, it’s not the same.”
