Arnaudville man sentenced in drug death

JonTerez "JaJa" Broussard was only 20 when she died of fentanyl poisoning in 2021.

Since then, her family - including her dad, Lafayette attorney Bob Broussard - have lobbied the legislature for several laws aimed at increasing the penalties for those involved in the distribution of that deadly drug.

Today, the man convicted by a jury of murder for selling the fentanyl-laced cocaine to her was sentenced to life in prison.

Damien Bernard, 27, of Arnaudville, was sentenced to life in prison without parole, probation or suspension of sentence. After a trial, a jury convicted him of second-degree murder in October 2023.

Louisiana's second-degree murder law has included the distribution of any drug that's illegal under federal law for years, but Bob Broussard tells KATC this is the first Fentanyl-related conviction in Louisiana.

Federal health data show that, since 2015, the number of overdose deaths in the United States have doubled, from 52,000 to more than 107,000. Much of that increase is attributed to fentanyl and other synthetic opiods, officials say.