Turkey Creek chief remains in stable condition after stabbing incident

A concerned resident of Turkey Creek interrupted the Village Council meeting Tuesday night and complained about suspicious activity near his residence that led to the eventual stabbing of Police Chief Robert Glenn Leggett.
In the middle of the meeting, Terry King barged into the meeting room and made the council aware about “drunk dope heads over there at Bubba’s house.”
King added that the people he was referring to had been there twice and that his grandchildren were locked up in the bathroom. “Something needs to be done,” he complained. “I’m dead serious.”
Mayor Heather Cloud informed King that the chief was on his way. Earlier in the meeting, Chief Leggett had received a call on his cell phone that caused him to abruptly leave the meeting.
The mayor later told the council that she has “gotten messages of a gentleman going house-to-house and snooping around back there in Turkey Hollow (across from Leger’s Grocery).” She added, “It’s happening at my house too. People are going up-and-down the road, and people are getting fed up.”
She advised the council of other suspicious activity that was recently going on in the village. “All weekend there was a green Ford truck that was going up-and-down the roads with no license plate,” said Mayor Cloud.
She also reported on a separate incident. “I noticed a vehicle that was up-and-down the roads. I found out, from my own digging, that it was a vehicle that was running a stolen plate from Lafayette. This went on for four months.”
“Something needs to change here, and it’s going to happen real soon,” added Mayor Cloud. “We all know people hadn’t had the respect that they should for the law here, and I think that’s going to change soon. I feel like people feel comfortable doing what they want here. I’m looking for a bright future here.”
The change that the mayor was alluding to is the fact that voters of the village had voted last Saturday to change the position of police chief from an elected position to an appointed position.
Councilman Neal King called the move a vote of confidence. He said people “want to see a change even though it won’t be until January before it happens.” He added, “I look forward to it, and, if anyone has any problems, I expect them to come here. We will certainly address them, and whatever we can do is what we will do. I’m happy they gave us that vote of confidence.”
Echoing Councilman King’s sentiments was Mayor Cloud. She expressed, “I feel that what’s going to happen here, if we stick together and work together, we are going to set off a domino effect.” She went on to say, “Other small municipalities, and maybe some larger ones, are going to do just what we did because they want their towns to be better patrolled, better protected, and to have better financial responsibility by their public offices. I think the people here that voted no are going to be a yes after we get it going.”
“I think if they give us six months they’ll see an improvement,” concluded Councilman King.
As far as the stabbing incident of Chief Leggett, the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday that it has a supect in custody. According to a press release from the sheriff’s office, the suspect is “a male subject identified as Zackery Shane Deville (White/Male, DOB 07/10/1993), who is being held at the Evangeline Parish Jail without bond.”
The press release went on to state, “The initial investigation completed revealed that Officer Robert Leggett was attempting to arrest Deville for criminal trespassing. As the arrest was being made, Deville got into a physical altercation with Chief Leggett and ultimately brandishing a knife and stabbing Chief Leggett across his left cheek. The chief was transported by AIRMED to be immediately treated. Chief Leggett was stable at time of arrival, later underwent an emergency surgery and is now in the Intensive Care Unit.”
Deville was charged with attempted first degree murder and criminal trespassing.
A hearing was held for Deville in Judge Gary Ortego’s courtroom on Wednesday, where Deville was appointed Sonny Chapman as his attorney due to the fact that Chapman is currently representing Deville on charges related to a different incident.
During the hearing, Judge Ortego informed Deville that he would be held without bond until his bond hearing, which was set for April 2, 2018 at 1:30 p.m.