An eighteen year old man is facing the possibility of life in prison after he was indicted for second-degree murder in the random robbery and slaying of a truck driver in August.
Trucker Shot While Making Repairs To His Rig
According to reports, 49-year-old Keith Odom of Jonesborough was making a repair on his truck while waiting to unload in a parking lot of a shopping center in the 12300 block of Florida Boulevard in Baton Rouge, Louisiana . He was scheduled to make a delivery to Barton’s Surplus Warehouse.
The shooting happened around 8 a.m.
While Odom was making the repairs to his truck, he was reportedly approached by a black male, who robbed him. Authorities believe that Odom was shot after giving the suspect his property. Odom was transported to the hospital, where he later passed away.
Facing life in prison
Landry Carter, the man believed to have robbed and shot Odom, now faces life in prison if found guilty on charges of second-degree murder.
Nearby business surveillance video shows Carter walking towards Odom’s truck moments before the incident occurred.
Carter, according to an arrest report, killed Odom during an armed robbery. After Odom gave his valuables to Carter, the 18-year-old “took a step back and fired a single shot” into the victim’s midsection, according to The Advocate.
Odom’s parents, Paulette and Kenneth Odom, of Jonesborough, Tennessee, wrote in a letter “He gave the man his wallet, phone, etc. Why, oh why, did he have to take his life? Our lives will never be the same. There is a hole in our hearts that will never be filled.”
East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III said, “Based on our review of the evidence and witness statements we believed that the evidence more clearly supported a second-degree (murder) indictment rather than a first-degree (murder) charge.”
This is not the first time that Carter has been involved in armed robberies. He has been caught in a string of robberies all within a mile of his home – one other robbery even occurred in the same shopping center where Odom was robbed and killed.
This case has been assigned to state District Judge Richard Anderson.