LC man gets 8 terms for attempted murder
<p class="p1">A 30-year-old Lake Charles man was sentenced Tuesday in state district court to eight 50-year prison terms to run concurrently.
<p class="p1">El Jerico Jermiah Bartie was convicted of eight counts of attempted first-degree murder, which involved eight different law enforcement officers, after a bench trial held in March before Judge Ron Ware.
<p class="p1">Ware on Tuesday sentenced Bartie to 50 years on each count of attempted first-degree murder, to run concurrent, for shooting at officers during a July 2014 standoff at the Super 8 Motel in Sulphur.
<p class="p1">At the time of the standoff, Bartie was being sought for drive-by shootings on Cline Street between July 24-25 of 2014.
<p class="p1">During his bench trial in March, authorities said Bartie fired through a wall of the Super 8 Motel on July 26, 2014, as officers went to arrest him for the shootings after getting a tip that he was at the motel.
<p class="p1">Cpl. William Loving, a SWAT team officer with Lake Charles police, testified at trial that during a 30-minute standoff, he and fellow officers were “in the pathway as some of the shots were being fired” by Bartie.
<p class="p1">“Then we got word that the defendant wanted to surrender and myself and another SWAT officer took him into custody,” Loving said.
<p class="p1">Natalie Hanson, a LCPD officer, testified about later seeing five bullet holes through the closet area in one of the hotel rooms.
<p class="p1">She said she found a bulletproof vest at the crime scene that was believed to have been worn by Bartie.
<p class="p1">Bartie has been arrested more than 13 times since 2005 and also has three drug convictions.
<p class="p1">He has been incarcerated at the Calcasieu Correctional Center since his arrest in 2014.
<p class="p1">Prosecutors have filed a habitual offender bill alleging Bartie is a fourth-time felony offender.
<p class="p1">The habitual offender hearing is scheduled for June.
<p class="p1">If sentenced at that time as a habitual offender, Bartie would be facing life in prison.