Rapides homicide updates: Ball woman pleads guilty in fire death, plus more cases

A Ball woman accused in the March 2023 fire death of a Pineville woman was sentenced to two years in prison Wednesday, although she won't serve that long.

Elizabeth Nicole Butler, 29, changed her plea to guilty Wednesday before 9th Judicial District Court Judge Patricia Koch. She was sentenced to two years at hard labor, but Koch warned her she would not be free that day.

Butler received credit for good time, which is normal for all inmates. She has been in jail since her arrest on March 30, 2023, for the fire days earlier that killed Chong Daenen , 63, in her home at 719 Sanders St.

Chong Daenen death: Woman, man arrested after Pineville arson fire kills 63-year-old woman

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Koch told her it could take a few weeks for the Louisiana Department of Corrections to calculate her good time and sentence.

Butler's co-defendant, 40-year-old Dorian Dewayne Lewis of Pineville, pleaded guilty in February and is serving five years in prison.

In other cases from Wednesday:

• Gerald Fritz King, 58, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and attempted manslaughter and was sentenced to 15 years in prison on both counts. The sentences will be served at the same time. King fatally stabbed Lakeisha Davis , 44, in the 1600 block of Vance Avenue in what the Alexandria Police Department described as "a domestic incident." Another man was wounded.
• George Thomas Carter rejected a plea offer of life in prison from Rapides Parish Assistant District Attorney Brian Cespiva. He and Carter's defense attorney, Christopher LaCour, asked for a status conference, which Koch set for Dec. 19. His trial on a charge of second-degree murder in the shooting of 22-year-old Marcus Atkins Jr. was set for Feb. 24. During a bond reduction hearing about three weeks ago , a detective testified that Carter, 20, badgered Atkins to fight him until he agreed. As Atkins turned to go inside and get shoes, Carter shot him multiple times in his back, he said.
• Both sides in the Ayoub Ali case told Koch they had reached a plea deal, but that it needed to be continued until Dec. 19. Koch granted the continuance. Ali faces four felony charges — insurance fraud, attempted theft greater than $25,000, forgery and filing false public records — in connection to the supposed sale of Chandler Groceries on La. Highway 28 West in Boyce. When she presided over civil cases, Koch ruled Ali used fraud to take the store from its owner, Donald Chandler. The store later was destroyed in a fire, and the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal ruled in October 2022 that Koch's ruling was correct.
• Brian Mequial Johnson rejected a 40-year prison sentence on a charge of second-degree murder, but Cespiva told his attorney, LaCour, that he'd keep the offer open. Johnson is accused of killing 19-year-old Dontravius Williams, whose body was found in the 500 block of Avoyelles Drive on May 13, 2023. Johnson already was in jail on unrelated charges when he was arrested in connection to Williams' death. A status conference was set for Dec. 18, and his trial was set for Feb. 24.
• Taylor James Boyer, 21, was set for a pretrial conference but it was continued until Aug. 21. He faces charges of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. Boyer allegedly shot into a trailer on Railroad Avenue in Alexandria, where he also lives, almost one year ago. One person inside, Brad Semper, was shot. He was taken to a hospital and died there on Nov. 27.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Rapides homicide updates: Ball woman pleads guilty in fire death, plus more cases