FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Slidell Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison For Residential Break-in During Which Co-Perpetrator was Killed
January 9, 2025
District Attorney Collin Sims reports that on January 7, 2025, 40-year-old Stuart Pratt of Slidell was sentenced by Judge Vincent Lobello to 30 years in prison after he pled guilty as charged to manslaughter, aggravated burglary, conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary and home invasion. Pratt received a 15-year prison term on the conspiracy charge and 30-year prison terms on each of the other three charges. Assistant District Attorneys Tiffany Dover and Amanda Gritten prosecuted the case. Detective Hayden Folse with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office was in charge of the investigation.
On September 5, 2023, at approximately 1:00 a.m., deputies with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a residence on Rue De La Paix in Slidell in response to a 911 call reporting a shooting. Upon arrival, deputies were alerted to the deceased body of an adult male, later identified as Walter Lee, lying on the kitchen floor of the residence. Occupants of the residence informed the deputies they had been lounging in and around a hot tub in their backyard when one of the guests went inside to retrieve something. When the teenaged guest entered the residence, he encountered a masked intruder (Lee) armed with a gun. The two began scuffling, drawing the attention of the homeowner in the backyard who rushed from the hot tub into the house and intervened. Lee fired a round from his gun, striking the homeowner in the back. The teenaged guest was able to wrestle the firearm from Lee and mortally wounded Lee with two shots to his head.
During the course of their investigation, detectives determined there were actually four additional perpetrators involved in the burglary. The other four perpetrators were later identified as Stuart Pratt, Latoya Powell, and Latoya’s children, Tamaya Powell and Tamarion Powell. The investigation revealed Pratt, Lee and Tamarion Powell had entered the residence undetected while Latoya and Tamaya waited outside. Pratt and Tamarion Powell began stealing items from within the residence as Lee, armed with the gun, stood guard. All four individuals quickly fled the scene as the confrontation between Lee and the home’s occupants unfolded.
Pratt then immediately drove to a residence on Maple Creek Drive, where his former girlfriend resided. Pratt was prohibited from contacting his former girlfriend pursuant to a previously issued restraining order. Once there, he kicked open the front door and then the door to the bedroom occupied by his former girlfriend. Pratt fled the scene when his ex-girlfriend called 911. Detectives obtained video footage from the woman’s doorbell camera, which captured Pratt violently ripping the camera from its mounting and stomping on it.
On October 17, 2024, both Tamarion Powell and Tamaya Powell pled guilty to manslaughter and aggravated burglary. Judge Lobello sentenced Tamarion to ten years in prison on each charge and Tamaya to five years in prison on each charge. Both were juveniles at the time of the offense but were prosecuted as adults due to the seriousness of the crimes they committed.
On December 16, 2024, Latoya Powell pled guilty to manslaughter, aggravated burglary, conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary and contributing to the delinquency of juveniles. She was sentenced to twelve years in prison on each of the three felony charges and six months in parish jail on the misdemeanor contributing charge.
This prosecution for manslaughter was made possible by an amendment to the law in 2020. The amendment of the manslaughter statute allows for a defendant to be charged with manslaughter if he or she commits a crime of violence that results in the death of a human being even if the defendant had no intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm. The new law further provides it is immaterial whether or not the person who did the killing was acting in concert with the defendant. Consequently, all four defendants in this case were charged and convicted of manslaughter despite the fact the human being who was killed was a co-perpetrator fatally wounded by a victim.