A Jefferson Parish jury has convicted 18-year-old Cashmere Butler of manslaughter in the April shooting death of Samuel Tague outside a Marrero apartment, finding him guilty of a lesser charge after he admitted pulling the trigger but insisted he was protecting himself and others during a chaotic confrontation. Jurors deliberated for just two hours before reaching their decision.
According to WDSU, the jury found Butler guilty of the lesser-included offense of manslaughter rather than the murder charge he originally faced. Butler admitted shooting Tague, but told jurors he acted in self-defense and in defense of others amid a tense discussion that had erupted between Tague and Tague’s ex-girlfriend. He now faces up to 40 years in prison for the killing, the outlet reported.
A Confrontation That Turned Deadly
The shooting happened on the evening of April 15 in the 5000 block of Fourth Street in Marrero, according to nola.com. Witness testimony cited in the case states that Tague had gone to his ex-girlfriend’s apartment looking for her and punched the front door before the confrontation escalated. Butler had come to the apartment with Tague’s ex-girlfriend and another woman to assess the damage from that incident, per the same reporting.
During the struggle that followed, Butler pushed and held Tague against a wall with his left forearm and pressed his gun into Tague’s abdomen before firing once, per the station’s report. Tague was rushed to University Medical Center but died less than an hour later. The nola.com account notes that Butler shot Tague once in the abdomen, and Tague did not survive his injuries.
Conflicting Accounts of the Original Charges
Exactly what Butler was initially booked with has been reported differently across coverage of the case. One nola.com report states that Butler, of Harvey, was arrested on April 16 and booked with first-degree murder and obstruction of justice. A separate nola.com article instead says Butler, 18, of Harvey, was charged with second-degree murder and obstruction of justice. WDSU’s reporting on the conviction similarly describes Butler as having been arrested for second-degree murder and obstruction of justice…