Kaunda Magee
FRANKLINTON—A Washington Parish jury found Kaunda Lopaz Magee, 40, guilty late Wednesday (Feb. 3) of several crimes he committed in 2011, when he broke into a home in Pine, raped the male occupant, and shot at police during a getaway that sparked a three-week, two-state manhunt. Magee faces an automatic sentence of life in prison on the aggravated rape and aggravated kidnapping charges when Judge Martin E. Coady sentences him Friday (Feb. 5).
The jury deliberated about 2 ½ hours before returning the guilty verdicts, which also included: aggravated burglary, theft of a vehicle over $1,500, aggravated flight, three counts of attempted manslaughter, and one count of attempted first degree murder. Assistant District Attorneys John Alford and Lewis Murray prosecuted the case.
Magee’s crime spree began Oct. 3, 2011, when he forced his way into the rural Washington Parish home of a then-18-year-old man. Magee tied the young man in his bedroom, stole guns, televisions, and other electronics, raped him, forced him into a closet and threatened to kill him if he came out. Magee then fled in the victim’s truck.
The victim managed to untie himself and call the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office. When a Louisiana State Police trooper spotted the truck and began following it, Magee fired shots at the officers and led them on a chase that wound through Tangipahoa Parish and into Mississippi. Magee eventually wrecked the truck and fled on foot into a heavily wooded area.
The Hunt for Magee drew national attention, as officials warned residents that a dangerous fugitive was on the loose, and troopers combed the woods of Louisiana and Mississippi, searching for him. Magee was finally arrested Oct. 26, 2011, in Osyka, Mississippi, when he was shot by a resident in self-defense.
Prosecutors also plan to file a bill against Magee as a multiple offender, which would significantly increase the additional sentences that are not mandated by law.