Lake Charles, Louisiana

From Lake Charles’ KPLCtv.com of January 10, 2007

DNA Backlog

Lake Charles resident Nicholas Perioux said, "I probably had about 10, maybe 15 bullets shot at me." Perioux was talking about the night he was attacked at Pat's of Henderson restaurant in Lake Charles back in December of 2004.

When two robbers opened fire, Nicholas grabed a gun in self defense and shot one of the criminals in the head. They both got away, but not before one of them left behind some DNA evidence. Lake Charles Police Chief Don Dixon said, "It was sent to a lab in Shreveport." And that is where the evidence sat trapped in a back log. Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso said, "You can see in this case, I want to say it almost took a year to get an answer back." While DNA testing is performed locally, area labs do not have access to the national DNA database. It is that same national database that fingered 31 year old Jerome Montrell Thomas of Baton Rouge as the man that pulled the trigger.

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