Louisiana Tech stabbing suspect indicted on murder, attempted murder charges
Louisiana Tech student Jacoby Johnson has been indicted on murder and attempted murder charges in the Nov. 13 stabbing attack on campus. He's pictured here being apprehended by Tech police soon after the incident.
The man accused of stabbing a woman to death and injuring three others on Louisiana Tech University campus has been indicted by a local grand jury.
A bill of indictment filed in 3rd Judicial District Court in Ruston shows a Lincoln Parish grand jury indicted Tech student Jacoby Johnson Friday on one count of second-degree murder and three counts of attempted second-degree murder stemming from the Nov. 13 stabbing attack.
Johnson, 23, is accused of stabbing and cutting three Ruston residents and another Tech student with a folding knife outside the Lambright Sports & Wellness Center on Tech campus in a gruesome incident that investigators described as a random act of violence.
While one victim wasn’t seriously injured and two others recovered from their wounds, local artist Annie Richardson died from her injuries the day after the attack.
Police captured Johnson on campus minutes after the incident.
The grand jury indicted Johnson on each charge he’s had since Richardson died, when the initial attempted murder count was bumped up to second-degree murder.
District Attorney John Belton declined to comment on the indictment Wednesday.
An indictment is not a conviction. Grand juries are tasked with determining whether there is enough evidence for a case to proceed to trial.
The grand jury proceedings, which are closed to the public, came just days after the Louisiana Supreme Court assigned retired Supreme Court Justice Chet Traylor to preside over the case ad hoc on Dec. 11, at the local court’s request.
Johnson, through his public defender, entered an initial plea of not guilty at a hearing two days after the incident. Pleas can be changed any time up until trial.
He’s scheduled for a sanity hearing on Jan. 23, 2024, to determine if he is mentally fit to continue with proceedings.
Johnson remains in the Lincoln Parish Detention Center without bond.
According to a Louisiana Tech Police report, when officers questioned Johnson following his arrest, he said he “probably” would have attacked more people at the Tech dining hall if he hadn’t been apprehended.
A transcript from the Nov. 15 hearing shows district Judge Thomas Rogers took that statement into account when determining Johnson would be held without bond.
