Get the weekly rundown Sign up to receive our weekly Legal Insider newsletter Email* Submit

The mother of murder suspect Louis M. Seignious Jr. has created a GoFundMe page to raise money for her son's legal defense, even though he is still at large.

Westerly police allege that Seignious, 31, of Norwich shot and killed his cousin Vincent A. Sebastian, 28, of Ledyard at 3:55 p.m. Saturday at an apartment at 11B Marriott Ave. Both men were members of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.

"Lou needs a lawyer," says the headline on the internet fundraising request for $10,000 posted Wednesday by Alethea Gilliam, also known as Alethea Boyd.

In the narrative, Gilliam claims her son was ambushed after being lured to the Westerly home, and acted in self-defense. As of Thursday evening, nobody had contributed to the fundraiser.

Westerly police have a warrant charging Seignious with first-degree murder, which is considered a capital offense even though Rhode Island does not have the death penalty.

"We're working closely with Ledyard and Mashantucket Police and the U.S. Marshal's Office on trying to track him down," police Chief Shawn Lacey said by phone Thursday. "We're working with any information we can possibly get and trying to execute every lead we have. We believe he's still in the area, though we have gotten reports he's not."

Lacey said police "didn't come up with anything" while investigating a potential sighting of Seignious near Foxwoods Resort Casino on Wednesday night. Ledyard police said at about 9 p.m., they were called to the area of Two Trees Inn, a tribe-owned property adjacent to Foxwoods, for a report of a suspicious man. They found nothing.

Seignious has a child with the woman who resides at the Marriott Avenue home, and Sebastian was having a relationship with her, according to Lacey. Sebastian and the woman were out at a child's birthday party Saturday afternoon when he and Seignious had a phone exchange. They left the party and returned home and were there just a short time when the shooting occurred, Lacey said.

There were three small children in the home, ages 1, 6, and 8 years old, Lacey said.

Seignious, who is wanted on a murder charge and is considered armed and dangerous, fled after the shooting and was last seen on the Mashantucket reservation. Police Chief William D. Dittman said one of the officers attempting to stop him at about 5 p.m. Saturday had to take evasive action to avoid a head-on collision.

Ledyard police said they recovered an unoccupied silver sedan, believed to be driven by Seignious, a short time later. The car, still running, was parked in the middle of the road in front of 904 Shewville Road. Ledyard police seized the car and turned it over to Westerly police, who obtained a search warrant and processed it for evidence, according to Lacey.

Both Seignious and Sebastian have relatives who serve on the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council, according to Lacey. Tribal Police and U.S. Marshals have knocked on doors on the reservation and questioned some tribal members, he said.

Dittman said he doesn't believe Seignious is on the reservation. Tribal police have obtained a warrant charging Seignious with first-degree assault and first-degree reckless endangerment in connection with the attempted vehicle stop. The department is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to his capture.

At the request of Tribal Police, the New London State's Attorney's Office has authorized extradition back to Connecticut, should Seignious be taken into custody anywhere in the continental United States, according to Chief Inspector Philip Fazzino.

Should Seignious be captured in Rhode Island, he would be arraigned on the murder charge at the District Court in Wakefield, according to Lacey.

k.florin@theday.com