Teens told to ‘lie ‘til you die’ about former mayor’s alleged tryst with juvenile

Published 7:21 pm Saturday, February 28, 2026

A close friend of former DeRidder mayor Misty Roberts testified Saturday that she instructed the juveniles who allegedly witnessed Roberts having sex with an underage teen to lie about the incident, as the trial of Roberts continued over the weekend in the 36th Judicial District Court of Beauregard Parish.

Jill Weaver, who identified herself as a best friend of Roberts, stated under oath that she told her son — Roberts’ nephew — through text messages to “lie ‘til you die” about the alleged incident.

Weaver testified her son called her to Roberts’ home the night of July 20, 2024, because Roberts was upset and yelling. When she arrived, Weaver said Roberts was “ranting and raving” and arguing with Roberts’ teenage son.

When prosecutor Charles Robinson asked Weaver what Roberts and her son were arguing about, Weaver paused and appeared to become emotional before answering, “He was saying (Roberts) effed his best friend.”

“That whole night was a lot,” Weaver said. “It was chaos.”

Amid the arguing, Weaver said Roberts accused her nephew of having a video of the incident, but Weaver testified her son denied having the video.

Weaver said tensions hit a peak that night when Roberts became so emotional she threatened to harm herself. Her voice cracked when she recalled her son retrieving a gun from inside Roberts’home, unloading it, and then putting it inside a vehicle so that Roberts did not have access to it. Weaver clarified in her testimony that Roberts did not attempt to hurt herself, and said that she only said she “wanted to.”

That night, Weaver testified she told the juveniles “not to talk about” what had happened, and the next day she texted her son and instructed him to lie about it if he was questioned by anyone not present that night.

Roberts’ ex-husband, Duncan Clanton, also testified he was asked not to talk about the incident after he stated Roberts had confessed to him the next day.

Clanton testified that Roberts confessed to him that she had sex with the alleged victim and then requested he reach out to the victim’s parents to “see how they were feeling about everything.” In the days after the alleged incident, Clanton said he tried to “avoid” meeting with people in the community to avoid being asked about the incident, and text messages between him and Roberts submitted as evidence show Roberts making repeated requests for Clanton to lie about it.

Clanton also testified that he took a phone call from a city council member who questioned him about the alleged incident — because Roberts was still mayor at the time — and Clanton said he had denied the allegations.

Roberts’ defense claimed Clanton’s testimony was fueled by bias against Roberts, and brought up a petition filed by Clanton to modify child custody. Filed in October 2024, the petition listed reasons that included Roberts’ arrest and indictment, as well as her resignation and lack of employment.

Defense attorney Todd Clemons questioned Clanton on his reasons for filing the petition and asked if he was aware that Clanton, if convicted, would be listed as a sex offender, which would make it more difficult for her to be around her children and would eliminate the chance of having to pay child support to her.

Clanton testified he was not aware of the laws regarding those issues.

At one point, Clemons accused Clanton of violating the rules of sequestration placed on all witnesses when he asked Clanton if he had spoken to his son about his testimony from the day prior. After some hesitation, Clanton admitted he had, but said he had “overheard” family members talking about his son’s testimony and that he was “very upset” about what his son had said on the witness stand.

Before the day ended, jurors heard from another juvenile who attended the party at Roberts’ home the night of the incident and who claimed to have seen Roberts having sex with the underage teen and seen a video being recorded of the incident.

Under cross-examination, the juvenile, who was 14 at the time of the alleged incident, clarified to Clemons that he witnessed a video as it was being recorded, but never saw the video again after that moment.

Court will remain in recess on Sunday and is scheduled to resume Monday at 9 a.m.