Lacombe man gets 80 years after pleading guilty in Big Branch slayings

COVINGTON, La. (WVUE) - A 20-year-old Lacombe man was sentenced to 80 years in state prison after pleading guilty Tuesday (Jan. 17) to his role in the fatal shooting of a man and his pregnant girlfriend in 2020.

Peter Reimonenq pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter, one count of first-degree feticide and one count of obstruction of justice to avert his double-murder trial in Covington, District Attorney Warren Montgomery’s office said.

Reimonenq admitted taking part in the fatal shootings of 20-year-old Ellis Sylvanus III and Sylvanus’ girlfriend -- 21-year-old Qile Sanders -- who was seven months’ pregnant. The couple was found shot to death inside an SUV in a remote section of the Big Branch nature preserve near Lacombe on July 18, 2020.

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After hearing impact statements from the families of the victims, Judge Scott Gardner imposed the 80-year sentence on Reimonenq without the possibility of parole or suspension of sentence.

The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated the slayings. Assistant District Attorneys Elizabeth Authement and Blake Peters prosecuted the case.

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