Death penalty sought for suspect in double killing
HOUMA — Terrebonne Parish prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against a 22-year-old man accused of shooting two men to death in July and, later that week, wounding a woman in the head.
Jacobby Jackson Lee of Houma was indicted Friday morning on two counts each of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, and pleaded not guilty to the charges at a hearing that same morning.
The manner of the two male victims’ shootings allowed for death penalty consideration, said First Assistant District Attorney Carlos Lazarus said.
“Based on the method of the killing, it seemed like they may have been execution-style,” said Lazarus, calling Lee “a one-man crime spree.”
Lee was arrested July 30 after officers found him hiding under a house in the 100 block of Columbus Street, according to Houma Police. Investigators said Lee visited a friend, Sean Collins, 19, at 1400 Dunn St., that evening and got into a dispute.
The cause of the fight is unknown, police said.
Lee fired a shot at his friend’s mother, Gail Collins, 53, as she watched television on her couch, striking her in the head, police said. He then fired at Sean Collins, who escaped unharmed through a rear window.
He left the house in a Ford Explorer, police said, which was abandoned at Willow and Dunn streets. Police said they spotted him at Morgan and Main streets and then arrested him on Columbus.
He possessed about a quarter-pound of marijuana during his arrest, police said. Investigators are unsure whether the marijuana was involved in the dispute.
Gail Collins survived the gunshot to the head, police said.
After his arrest, Lee was linked to a July 28 double murder that occurred less than a mile away on Clay Street, police said. Michael D. Hebert, 33, of Houma, and his cousin, Michael G. Herbert, 25, of Belle Rose, were found dead from one gunshot each in an apartment Hebert rented, they said.
Investigators found a .40 caliber gun in the Ford Explorer Lee abandoned after the Dunn Street shooting, authorities said. Matching bullet casings from the gun were found at the scene of both shootings, they said.
Lee, who is being held without bond at Terrebonne Parish jail, was charged with the double murder Aug. 20. Police also charged him in a car theft and purse snatching that occurred in July.
Lee pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine in 2008 and received a two-year sentence, Lazarus said. He was released on parole in Nov. 13.
The decision to seek the death penalty was done without the consultation of the victims’ relatives, Lazarus said.
“They understand the ramifications of the death penalty,” he said. “They have not expressed opposition.”
Lee’s trial is set for Jan. 11.
The District Attorney’s Office last sought the death penalty in 2007 against Romalis Gordon Jr. He later pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder for shooting Brenda “Granny” Roberson, a 64-year-old unarmed security guard, and 29-year-old Schaeffer Francis, a night manager, at Lucky’s Truck Stop Casino on La. 182.
He received two consecutive life sentences.
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