Andrew Sumner
COVINGTON—Andrew J. Sumner, 22, of Slidell, has been sentenced to 40 years at hard labor for manslaughter in the 2012 death of a woman who was stabbed to death and set on fire in her Slidell apartment. Judge Allison H. Penzato sentenced Sumner Thursday (Oct. 29) for his role in the killing of Ashley King, who was stabbed 13 times and burned in her home.
Sumner was an acquaintance of King on Feb. 22, 2012, when he brought his then-best friend, Devin Baham, with him to her Slidell apartment ostensibly to buy prescription pills. The men actually had concocted a plan to rob King, but when she grew suspicious and began asking questions, Baham attacked her, stabbing her repeatedly.
Sumner took pills and cash from the apartment and fled from the scene with his girlfriend, Katelyn Lusich, who at the time was 17 years old and pregnant. She had come along for the ride but waited in the car while the men were inside the apartment. When they made it home, Lusich hid the pills and cash for Sumner and washed his clothes. Sumner returned to pick up Baham from a park near King’s apartment, and the men backtracked about 4 a.m. the next day to the crime scene, which Baham then set on fire.
Slidell police officers Jim Davis and Sgt. Sean McClain and former Slidell police officer Robert Chadwick unraveled the scheme through their investigation.
Lusich, now 21 and Sumner’s wife, pled guilty in November 2014 to obstruction of justice and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Baham, now 24, was convicted in May and sentenced to serve 70 years for manslaughter, aggravated arson, and obstruction of justice. Sumner pled guilty in March, and Assistant District Attorney Jay Adair handled his sentencing last week.