A Nevada man stopped by Sheriff’s Criminal Patrol Units, Lt. Tony Moran and Deputy John Augustus on the Johnson Chute Road on Thursday afternoon at approximately 4:30pm was wanted in connection with the December 19th, 2009 drug related homicide of a innocent 17 year old male, walking home in Plaquemine, La., according to Natchitoches Parish Sheriff Victor Jones Jr.

The victim was apparently shot four times according to the Plaquemine Police Department.

Nicholas L “Vegas”. Gorringe, 29 of Henderson, Nevada booked into the Natchitoches Parish Detention Center charged with Principle to lst Degree Murder, and Felony Assault by drive by shooting.

Bronson Dewayne Smith, 31 formerly of Marthaville, La., was booked into the Natchitoches Detention Center charged with Accessory after the Fact.

Sheriff Jones, stated that deputies stopped the 2001 Lincoln Continental on Thursday afternoon at approximately 4:30pm, on the Johnson Chute Road near Natchitoches, La. for a traffic violation.

During the traffic stop, deputies conducted criminal background checks on the vehicle occupants and released them after completing their paperwork because of no active wants or warrants through the National Crime Information Center, although the stop and information data ran through NCIC was stored in a database.

Detectives in Plaquemines, in the mean time were completing their investigation at approximately 5:30pm, (one hour later) in the case and were entering the suspect information into the National Crime Information Center as wanted when they learned that the suspect had been stopped in the Natchitoches area earlier.

Detectives from Plaquemines contacted Natchitoches deputies requesting assistance in the case, and throughout the night, sheriff’s deputies, sheriff’s criminal investigators, and Natchitoches Police looked for the suspect.

During the traffic stop, deputies also obtained valuable information and while communicating with NPSO sheriff’s investigators Reginald Turner and Donte Latchie learned that the individuals had been in & around the Natchitoches area for the past several weeks which led deputies to believe that suspects were still in the area.

On Friday morning around 9:00am, Natchitoches deputies along with Natchitoches Police took the suspect and a person of interest in the investigation into custody without resistance at apartment complex on Williams Avenue in Natchitoches.

Both suspects remain in the detention center awaiting transfer to Plaquemine, La.

Refer to Plaquemine South Press Release for additional information regarding their investigation.

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PLAQUEMINE, LA. NEWS RELEASE

A fortunate tip led to the arrest of a Kaplan man in the December 19 shooting death of 17-year-old Jamarius D. Riley of Plaquemine and to the search for a second suspect, Plaquemine Police Chief Orian Gulotta announced at a press conference Thursday afternoon.

Police had questioned 40 to 50 people in the case, but had not identified a suspect until they got a lead Wednesday night from Kaplan Police Lt. Scott LeMire, who had information that a local man had been involved in a Baton Rouge area murder and found the details “too similar” to the drive-by shooting in Plaquemine, the police chief said.

By early Thursday, the Gulotta and four officers arrested Channing Paul Touchet, 25, of Kaplan at a North Plaquemine trailer park as he was leaving for work, Gulotta said. He said the police initially charged Touchet with principal to second murder and drive-by shooting.

Capt. Kenneth Payne reported later that the charge had been upgraded to principal to first degree murder and drive-by shooting, and as a result of a search warrant, Touchet was charged with simple possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a Schedule II controlled dangerous substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Gulotta said he was having an arrest warrant sworn out for a second suspect, Nicholson Lee “Vegas Gorrine, 30, of Harrison, Nevada, and would notify the Federal Bureau of Investigation as soon as a judge signed the warrant.

Touchet and Gorrine were working on a construction project on the I-10 bridge, the chief said. He said Gorrine recently left the job last week for employment on another bridge project, possibly in the Texarkana area.

They came to Plaquemine on December 19 to buy the painkiller oxycontin from a dealer on Allen Street, but the drug deal went bad, Gulotta said.

He alleged the two men drove around for half an hour or 45 minutes and returned to Allen Street and shot Riley in a case of mistaken identity.

Riley was walking home from his job at LeBlanc's Payless grocery store when he was shot. It was a cold night, Gulotta said, and Riley was wearing a jacket with a black hood, as the drug dealer had been.

“The kid was just walking home by himself,” the chief said.

Initially, the city police had only a description of a pick-up truck seen in the area around the time of the shooting.

Following the lead from Kaplan, Gulotta said police though Touchet was working the night shift. Officers staked out the site and had state troopers working traffic control for the project call them when the night crew left work.

But, Touchet was working days and was not with the crew, the police chief said; the suspect's boss said he was scheduled to report for work at 6 a.m.

Gulotta said the city police tracked Touchet first to a trailer park at Addis and got information that he was at the North Plaquemine park. He said they waited for Touchet to leave his trailer before arresting him without incident.

Four city police detectives who put in hundreds of hours on the case were “way up the road” at the time of the arrest, the chief said.

Officers spotted a gun in Touchet's truck where the suspect told them it was located, the chief said. He said they called immediately for a search warrant, which was signed by Plaquemine City Judge Michael Distefano.

The weapon later recovered was a 9mm, the caliber gun used in the shooting, Gulotta said. He said the gun plus ammunition has been sent to the State Police Crime Lab for comparison to casings found at the scene. Also, he said, the truck matched the description of the one seen at the time of the crime.

Earlier, Captain Payne said the Crime Lab plans to test DNA from the bullet casings.

Criminal prosecutor Tony Clayton of the District Attorney's Office said Touchet was living about 200 feet behind the victim's father's house.