LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) – A 12-person Lafayette jury has convicted a man of a 2021 first-degree robbery.

Travontae White, 19, was unanimously convicted of first-degree robbery by a 12-person Lafayette jury on Feb. 8, according to a press release from the District Attorney’s Office.

The press release said that White committed the robbery of a pregnant woman on May 24, 2021, on Darrel Street. White was 17 years old when he committed the robbery.

The victim testified that White stopped his car while she was walking on Darrel St., then produced a handgun and demanded her purse.

White then grabbed the victim’s purse with $200 inside and drove away, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

The Lafayette Police Department then investigated and identified White as the suspect. He was arrested nearly four months later in another jurisdiction and transported to Lafayette.

District Attorney Don Landry said that the victim and witnesses had consistently communicated with his office and cooperated whenever called on.

“We need victims to assist us in prosecuting these violent crimes, and to testify at trial when that time comes. Without them, convicting violent criminals would become very difficult or impossible. They are to be commended for doing so in this case,” Landry said.

Landry added, “I would like to thank Det. Kyle Manceaux, our DA’s office investigator, for working tirelessly to help us get this case to trial.”

“This jury did an outstanding service to our community this week. They were very attentive, applied the law as the judge gave it to them, and decided this case based on the evidence presented. This verdict will let the juveniles in our community know that they cannot commit violent crimes in Acadiana without being caught and punished,” said felony prosecutor Frederick Welter.

Landry also noted that the conviction was a signal to the community that his juvenile crime initiative announced in January 2022 is working.

“We let the community know that we were going to aggressively prosecute violent juvenile
criminals, and we have done so. This verdict confirms what we are hearing from the people of Acadiana – that they want juveniles who use guns to commit crimes to be treated like adults and to be prosecuted as adults,” said Landry.

White faces up to 40 years in prison. Sentencing will take place after the court has received a pre-sentence investigation from the Department of Corrections, the District Attorney’s Office said.