Alexandria, Boyce men identified as victims in double homicide after police arrest man
Two people died late Wednesday in an Alexandria shooting, and one man was arrested in connection the day after, according to police.
The Alexandria Police Department responded to a shooting call about 10:53 p.m. in the 2000 block of Simmons Street, which is off Prescott Road.
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Officers found two people dead, reads a news release. On Friday, police identified the victims as Jeremy Swafford, 38, of Alexandria, and 55-year-old Ronald Landry of Boyce.
Rentis Austin, 46, was booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center #1 at 10:16 p.m. Thursday on two counts of second-degree murder, as well as probation and parole violations, according to online jail records.
Although bail was set at $2 million, Austin remains in jail with no bail set on the probation and parole violations.
According to online Rapides Parish Clerk of Court records, Austin pleaded guilty in January 2023 to felony possession of less than 2 grams of meth. He was sentenced to two years in prison.
But two months later, in March 2023, he again was arrested and was formally charged in February with the same offense and a felony charge of first-degree robbery. He pleaded guilty to the drug charge, and the robbery charge was reduced to second-degree robbery, still a felony.
He was sentenced to five years on the drug charge and 15 year on the robbery charge, but both those sentences were suspended. He was given three years supervised probation on each conviction.
An investigation into the homicides is continuing, according to police.
This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Police: Man arrested after 2 killed in Simmons Street shooting
