Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
LAFOURCHE PARISH, La. (WGNO) — Opening statements were made in the trial of Joey Clement on Monday, Aug. 21. The state will try to prove Clement is guilty of three counts of vehicular homicide in the 2021 deaths of three young women from Lafourche Parish.
“I hope that we get some sort of closure. I know that there’s nothing that’s ever going to happen that’s going to bring the girls back to us, but I do hope that people get something to help them live with it,” said a friend of the victims, Emma France.
It’s day one of Clement’s trial, the man accused of causing the crash that killed 19-year-old Lily Dufrene, 18-year-old Hali Coss and 18-year-old Michaila Bowling in January 2021.
Eight jurors were chosen during an hours-long jury selection process with many family members and friends of the victims present.
“It’s important that justice is served. Their parents did not deserve to go without a child. As an older sister myself, I cannot imagine what the older siblings are facing. I can’t imagine losing my sister, and we’re all pretty close in age, so it’s kind of scary on my part too because this could happen to anybody,” said Alyssa Moreau.
According to a spokeswoman for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Nicholls University students were among the nearly 300 Louisianians in 2021 who were killed in a crash where a driver was suspected to be impaired.
“And so, when we say that number, we think wow that’s a statistic, but behind each one of those numbers is someone who’s so loved and so missed and whose families’ lives were turned upside down by their unexpected and 100% preventable death,” said Kelley Dair with Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Opening statements were made, and the jury was told they must believe beyond reasonable doubt that impairment was a contributing factor in the three deaths to return a guilty verdict.
The trial will resume Tuesday, Aug. 22, as the state presents its first witness.
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