The life sentence for a Lake Charles man convicted of killing a mother and her 12-year-old daughter five years ago in a house fire will stand.

Casey Michael Hatch was convicted in May 2023 of two counts of second-degree murder and was later sentenced to life in prison at hard labor without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence on each count.

One of the victims, Marie Borque, lived with Hatch — along with her two children — in his mobile home. At around 10:30 p.m. Jan. 14, 2020, a 911 dispatch operator received a call from Borque in reference to a fire at 300 Dobbertine Road Lot 20. Borque told the dispatcher she and her children were trapped inside the trailer home and were unable to breathe.

According to court testimony, the dispatcher advised Borque to break a window, but she was unable to do so. The dispatcher then instructed her to put blankets underneath the door to stop the smoke from entering the room. Eventually Borque stopped responding to the dispatcher.

Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office Deputy Aaron Miller said when he reported to the scene, Hatch assured him everyone was out of the trailer. Miller said he then proceeded to warn neighbors of the fire.

After the fire was extinguished, Lake Charles firefighters searched the home and found Borque and her two children. Bourque’s daughter suffered carbon monoxide poisoning and was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Borque died the following day at a Lafayette hospital. Her son survived the fire.

An autopsy was performed on Borque’s daughter and the death was ruled a homicide with smoke inhalation listed as the cause of death. An autopsy was not performed on Borque, but Calcasieu Parish Coroner Dr. Terry Wilke said he believed her death to be the result of smoke inhalation, as well.

Hatch was transported to a local hospital for treatment and later transferred to a Lafayette hospital, where he told staff he burned his trailer down. While receiving treatment in Lafayette, Lafayette Parish Deputy Coroner Dr. Amanda Phillips executed an emergency certificate on his behalf to have him evaluated.

Phillips testified that Hatch said, “I just wanted to burn my house down.” She also documented that Hatch did not express audio or visual hallucinations, but did express suicidal and homicidal ideations.

On June 4, 2020, Hatch was charged by grand jury indictment with two counts of second-degree murder and four days later he entered a plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. On July 30, 2020, a motion for appointment of sanity commission was filed and granted. On Jan. 20, 2021, the parties stipulated that Hatch was competent to stand trial.

Dr. Darrell Turner, a clinical psychologist and expert in forensic psychology, was appointed by the trial court to assess Hatch. Turner noted several inconsistencies in Hatch’s recitation of events, which he said made him believe Hatch was malingering. He also said Hatch mentioned in interviews that he did not want to be judged.

Turner said when someone does not know what they did was wrong, they are not concerned about being judged.

On Oct. 31, 2022, Hatch’s attorney requested he be re-evaluated. That motion was denied.

Florina Mendez, Borque’s long-term friend, testified that Marie felt unwelcome in Hatch’s home and that he had previously locked Marie and her children out of the home.

Shirley Holmes, Hatch’s stepfather, testified that a day before the incident he was concerned about Marie and her children’s safety due to Hatch not taking his medication.

In his appeal, Hatch claimed he was unable to distinguish between right and wrong at the time of the offenses and was therefore legally insane. He also claimed the trial court erred in denying his attorney’s motions for mistrial due to a tainted jury venire.

In his first claim, Hatch said he has a history of mental illness, psychotic episodes, auditory hallucinations and being admitted to mental institutions. He also contends he “did not attempt to hide his culpability but rather, admitted that he started the fire and ‘forgot’ to warn [the victims] when he ran out of the trailer.”

The prosecution disagreed stating Hatch complied with commands by law enforcement and paramedics at the scene, stated he did not want to be judged, and changed his version of the events numerous times.

The Louisiana 3rd Court of Appeal rejected Hatch’s claim stating there was no evidence presented that Hatch was motivated by some mental disturbance to burn down his trailer. Moreover, both experts found Hatch was not legally insane.

“Although Mr. Hatch was able to establish that he suffered from mental illness, he failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he was legally insane at the time he committed the offenses and that a rational trier of fact could not have found otherwise,” the court ruled.

The court also denied Hatch’s motion for a mistrial, stating he failed to establish that he did not receive a fair and impartial trial.