The indictments against a Pineville brother and sister in a triple murder case provide a few more details in the October case in which the three bodies were found in two spots during one day.
The indictments against a Pineville brother and sister in a triple-murder case provide a few more details in the October case in which the three bodies were found in two spots during one day.
Matthew Sonnier and Ebony Nicole Sonnier will be arraigned on Dec. 12 after indictments, formal charges alleging a serious crime, were returned against them last week. Both are suspects in the deaths of Latrice Renee White, Jeremy Deon Norris and Kendrick Dwann Horn.
Rapides Parish District Attorney Phillip Terrell said Wednesday that his office intends to seek the death penalty for Matthew. A decision hasn't been made regarding the case with Ebony, he said.
The bodies of all three victims were found on one day — Oct. 18 — in two different locations. White's body was found lying on Melrose Street in Pineville. The 42-year-old woman had been stabbed and thrown from a car.
Hours later, the bodies of Norris, 28, and Horn, 33, were found on fire in a ditch on Old Boyce Road outside of Alexandria.
The siblings were arrested and charged within a week. Law enforcement officials were tight-lipped when announcing the arrests, but the indictments against the pair provide a few more details into what officials believe happened.
"I don't want to go into any detail about evidence and how much evidence we have, and get into the facts of the case that might hinder the DA with his prosecution of this case because it is a very, very serious case," said Rapides Parish Sheriff William Earl Hilton at a press conference announcing the Sonniers' arrests. "There's gonna be a lot of court in front of us to get this through the system and to get these people convicted and bring justice to them and to the community."
Matthew, 29, was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of obstruction of justice. Ebony, 31, was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder and two counts of obstruction of justice.
The second-degree murder charge against Ebony is for White's death.
The counts from both indictments concerning White and Horn state that the siblings "had the specific intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm upon a victim who was a witness to a crime" for the purpose of preventing their testimony in a criminal action or proceeding.
The indictment against Matthew alleges that he killed Norris, also known as "Apple," during an armed robbery or attempted armed robbery "while engaged in the distribution and exchange or an attempt thereof of a controlled dangerous substance."
Ebony was a principal to Norris' murder, alleges the indictment against her.
The obstruction of justice charges accuse both of removing the bodies of Norris and Horn from wherever the homicides happened, "cleaning and attempting to clean the blood and firearms evidence from inside a blue Dodge Dakota truck" and then wrapping both bodies in material from an above-ground swimming pool.
The indictments continue that the pool material was secured to the bodies with cables and that both bodies were set fire on Old Boyce Road.
Attorneys from the Louisiana Capital Defense Project now are listed as representing Matthew in Rapides Parish Clerk of Court records. Two motions already have been filed in the case, including one to reduce bond that also is scheduled to be heard on Dec. 12.
Hugo Holland, who prosecutes death penalty cases across Louisiana, is representing the state, according to the records.
According to the clerk's website, Ebony does not have an attorney yet.
Both remain in the Rapides Parish Detention Center. Bond was set for Ebony at $913,600, but she is being held without bond on the two first-degree murder charges.
Matthew also is being held without bond on the three murder charges.