Duo stole Coast man’s wallet, truck after one shot him in the head. They’re going to prison.
Two Picayune men are headed to prison, each for 30 years, for shooting a man in the head during a Feb. 18, 2020, robbery, District Attorney Crosby Parker said in a release.
Judge Christopher Schmidt sentenced Tristan James Huacuja, 26, and Kenneth Ray Patterson Jr., 49, after entering guilty pleas this week.
Huacuja, who was identified as the actual shooter, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and grand larceny, while Patterson pleaded guilty to grand larceny and accessory after the fact to aggravated assault.
The pair each admitted their roles in the shooting. Authorities found the victim suffering from a gunshot wound to the head underneath his mobile home on Elm Road in Pass Christian.
The victim underwent surgery and therapy for months before he was able to identify the two men responsible for the shooting.
The shooting occurred shortly after Patterson and Huacuja went to the victim’s home. Once they got inside, Patterson pulled out a gun after he and the victim got into an argument. During a subsequent between Patterson and the victim, the victim started to get the gun away from Patterson.
At that point, the release said, Huacuja shot the man in the head.
The two men fled the home with the victim’s pickup truck, wallet and keys.
Harrison County sheriff’s investigators later found the truck abandoned on Interstate 10.
Sheriffs’ deputies arrested Patterson about 10 days after the shooting and co-defendant Nicole Lombardo, who was arrested on a charge of accessory after the fact to aggravated assault.
Lombardo has also pleaded guilty but is awaiting a Dec. 13 sentencing.
“Lombardo admitted to picking Patterson up from the side of the interstate and that Patterson told her that things went bad with the victim, that Huacuja shot him, and that they took the victim’s truck to get away,” Assistant District Attorney Ian Baker said in a release.
Huacuja later confessed to the shooting.
Patterson is also serving time for other convictions in Pearl River and Jackson counties. His 30-year sentence for crimes related to the shooting will run consecutively to his current prison term.
“The sentences handed down by the court today are appropriate given the injuries the victim sustained and the actions of the defendants,” Parker said in a release Wednesday. “The victim showed great courage working with law enforcement, and we hope these convictions will bring some closure to the victim as he continues his healing.”
