COVINGTON, La. (WGNO) — The Warren Montgomery District Attorney reported the St.Tammany Parish jury unanimously found 38-year-old Rudy Emanuel Melerine of Folsom, Louisiana guilty of attempted murder of his mom and dad.
On June 20, 2017, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to a residence in Folsom.
Upon arrival, deputy Jesse Smith found one of the victims, who was later identified as the defendant’s mother, in the driveway of the home in which all three family members lived.
The mother had obvious injuries to her head and face and was bleeding. According to reports, she directed officers to a back room where Rudy was attacking her husband.
The second victim, the defendant’s father, was laying on the floor in a pool of his own blood, with Melerine crouching over his body.
The victim was face down trying to prevent Melerine from grabbing the hammer that he’d wrestled out of his son’s hands.
Officers found blood across the room on the floor, bed, and walls and covering the victim and the defendant
Deputy Parker later testified that it was the “bloodiest scene he’d ever seen.”
Officers restrained Melerine and he was arrested. The parents were transported to the hospital where doctors treated them for multiple injuries to the head and face.
At trial, the mother testified that both she and her husband were asleep when the defendant broke into their locked bedroom in the early morning hours. She was awoken by what she described as sounding like “a hammer smashing a coconut.” She saw her son continue to strike her husband in the head with a hammer. She attempted to stop him and he turned on her, striking her multiple times.
Both victims testified that the night before, Melerine made comments to them indicating that he was fostering some sort of anger/resentment toward them and that he maybe was on drugs.
The father testified that his son in his rage told them that he was Michael the Archangel and to “prepare their souls for heaven.”
The jury deliberated about 40 minutes before unanimously voting “guilty” on both counts of attempted first-degree murder.
Melerine faces ten to fifty years, without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. He is set for sentencing on January 19, 2022, before District Judge John Keller.