By Claudette Olivier
Church Point News
A 31-year-old Church Point man has been charged in shooting death of Church Point native Bethany Walters on Jan. 25, 2016, in Lawtell.
On May 14, Michael Anthony Guillory was charged with second-degree murder in the death of the 22-year-old Walters.
Guillory was transferred from a correctional facility in Caldwell Parish, where he was serving time on felon in possession of a firearm and unauthorized use of a moveable charges related to the 2016 incident, to the St. Landry Parish Jail for a bond hearing on Thursday. At the bond hearing, District Judge Jason Meche set a bond review hearing for Sept. 26.
Cindy Walters, mother of the victim, said Guillory’s arrest is long overdue.
“When this occurred, commonsense told me that there were only two people in this house, and there was one of two outcomes — she did this or he did this,” Walters said. “Six months I waited until it came back with an undetermined cause of death on her death certificate.
“How do you grieve when you don’t know what happened to your child? I couldn’t live without knowing. With today’s forensic technology, we should be able to clear him or charge him. I had to know, for my own peace of mind. That’s how we got where we are today.”
She continued, “There is no victory here. I didn’t get a prize. She’s not coming home. Justice denied for one is justice denied for all. It was a search for the truth. Now it is justice. A half truth is still a lie.”
According to the Eunice News from February 2016, Capt. Clay Higgins, former public information officer for the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office, said, “This is a death with suspicious circumstances. It’s potentially a homicide, but it could still turn out to be a suicide.”
Walters’ death was originally reported as a suicide, but investigators were waiting on laboratory tests before ruling the death a homicide or suicide, Higgins said in the report. Higgins said Guillory, who was 27 years old at the time, was named a person of interest in the case, and he was arrested Jan. 27 for unauthorized use of a movable. Guillory was jailed on that charge as well as a hold for probation and parole for another, unspecified incident, according to the report.
St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz said, “During the initial investigation, we collected the facts, and we wanted to present the facts to the district attorney to convene a grand jury, but the district attorney will not convene a grand jury without an arrest.”
Guidroz said the sheriff’s office suspected Guillory in the shooting, but the department needed more evidence to make an arrest.
Guidroz said. “Once the family hired a forensic pathologist and experts were willing to testify, we presented the experts’ findings to a local judge who signed a warrant for Guillory’s arrest.”
In December 2017, Walters hired Lafayette attorney John Tilly to help her find out what exactly happened to her daughter in her final moments.
According to Tilly, at the time of the incident, Guillory and Walters were living together in rural St. Landry Parish, near Lawtell, on the Prudence Highway. Tilly said that on the night of Jan. 25, 2016, Walters was shot once in the head and killed instantly. Tilly said that Guillory then ran across the street to his parents home, told them Walters had shot herself and then fled in Walters’ car.
Tilly said Guillory was apprehended by authorities in Pointe Coupee Parish several hours later.
“Guillory fled the scene, crashed the vehicle in a nearby neighborhood and stole another vehicle in the area,” Tilly said. “Authorities in Point Coupee Parish found Guillory in the stolen vehicle in his boxer shorts, what he had been wearing the night before. Guillory gave them a false name, but they determined it was him.”
Tilly said that when Walters was found, officials with the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office said her cause of death was undetermined, and they weren’t sure if the incident was a suicide or a homicide.
Tilly said, “This woman wanted to know what happened to her daughter. She didn’t know it if was a suicide or homicide. She did not know the why, how, who. She want to find out what happened to her daughter, so she could grieve, whether it was a suicide or homicide. She was struggling with not knowing.”
Tilly said that all available evidence in the case was turned over to Dr. James Traylor, associate professor of pathology and medical director of Autopsy and Forensic Services at Louisiana State University at Shreveport.
Traylor, who was hired by Walters, recommended further testing on the firearm connected to Walters’ death. After receiving the results of the testing, it was Traylor’s opinion that Walters’ death was a homicide.
Tilly said he corresponded with a detective at the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office as well as met with Traylor in Shreveport.
“The detective with the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office has been extremely helpful,” Tilly said. “It was ultimately his decision to present this information to a judge.”
Tilly said the shooting is still under investigation, and he implored those who may know anything to reach out to him or the authorities.
“There may be someone out there with information,” Tilly said. “We are begging anyone with information to come forward. If you do not wish to contact the sheriff’s office, please contact me. Please come forward.”
