Seth Fontenot faces up to 40 years in jail in manslaughter conviction

A jury Wednesday found Seth Fontenot guilty of one count of manslaughter in the Feb. 10, 2013, shooting death of 15-year-old Austin Rivault.

Fontenot, 20, avoided an automatic life sentence had he been convicted as charged of first-degree murder. He still could be sent to prison for up to 40 years.

A jury of 10 women and two men, after deliberating roughly two hours, voted 11 to 1 to find Fontenot guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter, defined as a homicide committed in sudden passion or heat of blood. A female juror did not vote with the majority.

Fontenot was placed into custody Wednesday following the verdict and will remain in jail until bond is verified. He could be free as early as Thursday until sentenced at a later date.

"There are no winners in this case," prosecutor J.N. Prather Jr. said following the verdict.

Rivault, who was a freshman at St. Thomas More Catholic High School, lost his life much too soon.

Cole Kelley and William Bellamy, quarterbacks at Teurlings Catholic and STM respectively, carry around remnants of the hollow-point bullets from Fontenot's gun.

And Fontenot, then a freshman at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, is a convicted felon who will spend time in prison, have limited career opportunities when released and spend his days knowing he took the life of a 15-year-old boy.

On Wednesday, the jury also unanimously found Fontenot guilty of two counts of aggravated battery in the shooting of Kelley and Bellamy, who also were 15 years old when they were shot while driving past Fontenot's house.

Fontenot faced two counts of attempted first-degree murder for shooting Kelley in the ankle through a truck door and for shooting Bellamy in the neck through the back window of the truck.

Aggravated battery is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and up to 10 years in jail.

A pre-sentence investigation will be conducted by the Louisiana Department of Corrections and Judge Edward Rubin will sentence Fontenot at a later date, probably within 90 days, Prather said.

Rivault's parents, Kevin and Renee Rivault of Lafayette, sat in the front row of the spectator's section of courtroom 4B throughout the seven-day trial, wearing a medal of St. Paul, their late son's patron saint. They left the courthouse Wednesday without addressing the news media.

Even though Fontenot will face "serious jail time," Prather said the Rivault family understandably "wanted more" because Fontenot took the life of their son.

The Rivaults will have the opportunity to speak during sentencing and already have drafted letters expressing how they feel about the loss of Austin, Prather said.

Defense attorney Thomas Guilbeau said Fontenot's family is relieved he won't spend the rest of his life in prison, but devastated that he will go to prison.

Now 20 years old, Fontenot has always known he would go to jail for the shooting, Guilbeau said.

In his closing argument Wednesday, Guilbeau told the jury Fontenot was guilty of manslaughter and aggravated battery.

Fontenot said repeatedly in his statement to police and on the witness stand that he fired his 9mm Beretta handgun at the truck, not at the people inside, and in doing so, "he was convicting himself of manslaughter," Guilbeau said.

Several points in the state's case left reasonable doubt of Fontenot's guilt of the higher charges and the law says the jury must give the accused the benefit of any doubt, Guilbeau said.

In his closing argument, Prather called Guilbeau's defense "spit ball defense," where you throw it up against the wall and see if it sticks, on this case, attacks of the juveniles and the police investigation.

Throughout the case, Prather attempted to convince the jury that Fontenot had specific prior intent to shoot the truck and its occupants, which would lift the crime to first-degree murder.

He said Fontenot and his family from the beginning tried to cover up the shooting.

"You may not feel good voting first-degree murder, but you know what you need to do," he told the jury. "Y'all seen that young boy. Nobody deserves to die like that."

Fontenot claimed around 1:45 a.m. on Feb. 10, 2013, he was asleep at his parents' former home, 132 Green Meadow Road in Lafayette, when he woke up to the sound of someone trying to break into his truck, which had been burglarized before.

The family has since moved.

He testified that he ran out of the house with his handgun and, when a passing truck didn't stop, he fired three shots at the truck.

The first hit Kelley in the ankle, the third hit Bellamy in the neck and the second struck Rivault in the head, killing him.

Fontenot maintained he wasn't aiming for the boys, but the prosecution painted him as someone growing frustrated over several months about being a burglary victim who bought a gun and acted on a prior intent to shoot the next person who tried to break into his truck, a statement Fontenot actually wrote in a text message in December 2012.

"The verdict was not a surprise," said Lafayette attorney Alfred Boustany, who handles criminal defense cases and has represented capital cases. "To convict on first-degree murder, the defendant must show an intent to kill or inflict grave bodily harm."

Boustany said manslaughter appeared to be the "appropriate verdict" because it involved a crime committed in the heat of passion.

"A situation like this, he (the defendant) was angry" and thought the victims were breaking into his truck — "whether or not they were, he thought they were," Boustany said.

"It would be very difficult to prove he intended to kill the victims."

Reporter Ken Stickney contributed to this story. Follow Claire Taylor on Twitter @ClaireTaylorTDA