News

SHS announces students of the year

Sacred Heart School announces its Students of the Year for the 2025 - 2026 school year.

Balfa testifies in evidentiary hearing

By: TONY MARKS Editor VILLE PLATTE - An evidentiary hearing for post-conviction relief began on Tuesday, January 6, regarding John Brady Balfa, who was convicted in connection with the 1983 abduction and murder of Aubrey LaHaye.

Family needs help after son is paralyzed

By: JA’KORI MADISON The Advocate An Acadiana family is raising money to help a 11-year-old boy who was paralyzed after being shot in August. Joel Moscovis was critically injured during a residential shooting in Ville Platte on August 9th, according to his mom, Hannah Moscovis.

Hands-free driving law takes effect

(Editor’s Note: The following is a public service announcement from Evangeline Parish Sheriff Charles Guillory.) Please be informed that the new law requiring hands-free driving while using any electronic device became effective January 1.

Sulphur man killed in two-vehicle accident

On January 1, 2026, around 7 p.m., Troopers from Louisiana State Police Troop I responded to a two-vehicle fatal crash on Louisiana Highway 190 near Bryan Perrodin Loop on the parish line of Acadia and Evangeline Parishes less than a mile east of the Basile town limits.

VINCENT LOUIS FONTENOT

FAUBOURG - Funeral services for Vincent Louis Fontenot, 76, were held at 1 p.m. on Friday, January 2, 2026, at Saint Peter Catholic Church. Burial followed in the church cemetery. Vincent, a resident of Faubourg, passed away peacefully at his residence on Tuesday, December 30, 2025.

EPSO Arrests

The Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office reported the following recent bookings into the parish jail. All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

DR. HILDA JONES GUILLORY

Dr. Hilda Jones Guillory, a woman of extraordinary intellect, unwavering faith, and devoted service, peacefully entered eternal rest on December 29, 2025, surrounded by the legacy of a life well lived. Visitation was held on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m.

Sheriff responds to deputy-involved shooting

ON JANUARY 7, 2022 AT APPROXIMATELY 1:30PM THE EVANGELINE PARISH SHERIFF'S OFFICE WAS INVOLVED IN AN OFFICER INVOLVED SHOOTING. THE INCIDENT STEMMED FROM FROM A TIP RECEIVED ABOUT ILLEGAL DRUG TRANSACTIONS.

State Police Detectives Investigating Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office Deputy-Involved Shooting

Ville Platte – At approximately 2:00 p.m. on January 7, 2026, detectives with the Louisiana State Police Bureau of Investigations were requested by the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office to investigate a deputy-involved shooting that occurred in the area of Ivy Lane and Homer Road in Ville Platte.