August 16, 2024: 16th Judicial District Attorney Bo Duhé announces that:
During the early morning hours of April 20, 2019, two masked men broke into the Primeaux’s home. During a scuffle, Justin Primeaux was shot twice. When his girlfriend tried to call 9-1-1, one of the assailants took her phone away from her. Justin eventually succumbed to his wounds.
DeQuincy Lewis was developed as a suspect in the home invasion / homicide.
One of the assailants lost a pair of prescription eyeglasses during the scuffle. Not only was Lewis wearing similar eyeglasses in social media posts, but law enforcement was able to determine that the eyeglasses actually belonged to Lewis after forensic DNA analysis revealed Lewis’s DNA on the eyeglasses.
Further, Lewis matched the physical description of one of the assailants and was seen on social media posts wearing similar clothing.
Additionally, Lewis’s cell phone records showed that he was in the area of the home invasion / homicide at the time of the offense.
A suspect vehicle was also developed based on video surveillance footage. That vehicle was nearly identical to a vehicle belonging to one of Lewis’s relatives and Lewis was seen using the vehicle approximately an hour before the home invasion / homicide.
Lewis was indicted for First Degree Murder in connection with the death of Justin Primeaux. After a four-day trial, a St. Martin Parish jury unanimously found Lewis guilty as charged.
The mandatory sentence for first-degree murder is life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.
A sentencing hearing is set for October 10, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. before the Honorable Keith R.J. Comeaux.
Assistant District Attorney Alister Charrier prosecuted the case with assistance from Jonathan Songy. The case was investigated by the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Acadiana Criminalistics Laboratory. The District Attorney’s Office would like to especially thank Sheriff Becket Breaux, Captain Ross Stevens and Sergeant Dina Theriot with the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office for their work on this case and for ensuring justice was served.