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According to the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer and Violent Crimes Task Force Director Eddie Langlinais, the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office, along with Lafayette Sheriff’s Office, Lafayette Police Department, Louisiana State Police, Abbeville Police Department, and the Attorney General’s office, made an arrest on one of Acadiana’s most wanted fugitives.
One of Vermilion Crime Stoppers most wanted fugitives, Gavin Garnica (DOB 3-19-2002) of Abbeville was apprehended Wednesday. The successful capture of Garnica was the result of multiple agencies collaborating their efforts on an extensive fugitive search over the past several months.
Due to Garnica having arrest warrants in multiple parishes, Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, Lafayette Police Department, and the Attorney General’s Office began a search for Garnica within their parish.
Upon a first attempt to take Garnica into custody, he attempted to evade the arrest by fleeing, which resulted in a car chase starting in Lafayette Parish, and ended with Garnica’s arrest in Vermilion Parish.
“He is known to be a violent individual with a propensity to put law enforcement and the innocent public at risk.”
Langlinais states, “Garnica has a past history of escape from custody, aggravated flight from law enforcement and a complete disregard for the public’s safety, all of which creates a high-risk apprehension for law enforcement and threatens public safety”
Langlinais continues, “There is a lot of planning that goes into making these type of high-profile fugitive arrests because these type offenders know law enforcement is after them and it can cause the fugitive to react with a nothing to lose type mentality which has the potential to escalate rapidly putting the offender, officers and the public’s safety at risk. Yesterday’s mission was a successful one, and the favorable outcome gives credit to the united effort of the many agencies involved and to the law enforcement officers with boots on the ground seeing it through to the end,” said Langlinais.
The chase for Garnica ended when the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office Task Force was able to box Garnica in at a location in Abbeville by setting up a perimeter of law enforcement presence from Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, Abbeville Police, Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office Patrol and the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office task force. The assistance from the Louisiana State Police air support played a huge roll in the ability to maintain eyes on Garnica as he tried to evade capture.
“You can see from the litany of criminal charges, Garnica’s capture was a priority not only for our agency, but several surrounding agencies as well.” Sheriff Couvillon wants to thank everyone who collaborated on this apprehension and is proud of how all law enforcement agencies came together for the common goal of public safety.
Listed below are the charges per agency:

Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office and Abbeville police Department:

• Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle (2 counts), Simple Burglary, Intimidating a Witness, Simple Assault
• Battery of a Dating Partner, False Imprisonment
• Simple Escape
• Resisting Arrest, Aggravated Flight, Reckless Operation, Vehicular Negligent Injuring
·• PWITD Marijuana, Possession of a Firearm in the Presence of CDS
• Attempted 1st Degree Murder, Illegal use of Dangerous Instrumentalities, Possession of a Firearm in a Firearm Free Zone
• Felony FTA PWITD Marijuana
• Possession with the Intent to Distribute Marijuana
• Possession with the Intent to Distribute Fentanyl
• Proceeds from Drug Offenses
• Possession of a Schedule II narcotic
Taking Contraband Into a Penal Facility

• Lafayette Police Department:

• Aggravated Kidnapping
• Battery of a Dating Partner
• Carjacking
• Resisting Arrest by Flight
• Unauthorized Entry of Business Place (2 counts)
• Contempt for Possession of Firearm in the Presence of CDS
• Possession of a Stolen Firearm
• PWITD Marijuana
• Resisting Arrest

Iberia Parish:

• Felony FTA Illegal use of Weapons or Dangerous Instrumentalities, and Assault by Drive-by Shooting

ERATH — A Mass of Christian Burial for Jeanette LeBlanc Richard will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, September 16 at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Erath with Father Clinton Sensat officiating. Interment will follow at Our Lady of Lourdes Mausoleum.
Visitation will be held at David Funeral Home in Erath on Friday, September 16, from 9 a.m. until time of service with a recitation of the rosary at 11:00 a.m.
A lifetime resident of Erath, Jeanette passed away surrounded by family on September 14, 2022 at the age of 83. She was born on February 23, 1939 to Paul Andrew LeBlanc Sr. and Celima LeBlanc. She was employed by Abbeville General Hospital for 35 years. Jeanette was a lifelong parishioner of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church and was faithfully devoted to our Mother Mary and prayed the rosary every day. Her family will miss the unconditional love she gave along with her kind and sweet personality.
Jeanette is survived by one sister, Jeanell Segura and husband Jimmy of Erath, LA, One brother, Paul Andrew Leblanc and his wife Shirley of League City, TX. Surviving nieces and nephews are Jay Segura, Vikki Olinger (David), Jennifer Rogers (Kelly), Alicia Clark (Will), Jackie Puyau (Jerome), Jeanne Pigott (Tom), and Michelle Leblanc. She is also survived by a sister in law Sue Thibodeaux (Marshall) also of Erath.
She was preceded in death by her parents Paul and Celima Leblanc; her grandparents Demosthene and Cladora Leblanc and Blanche Koenig and Paulin LeBlanc; and her great nephews Jake Neves and Infant Jacob Dore.
Serving as pallbearers will be Jay Segura, Kelly Rogers, Jerome Puyau, Paul Dore, Payton Trahan and Kevin Guilbeaux.
Honorary pallbearers will be James Segura III, Paul Andrew Leblanc, Will Clark, David Olinger and Tom Pigott.
The family would like to thank the kind caretakers and nurses at Eastridge Nursing Home for the excellent care they gave to Aunt Nette and the joy they brought to her life. We would also like to thank Lamm Hospice and her wonderful nurse Patty Campbell, R.N.
You may sign the guest register book and express condolences online at www.davidfuneralhome.org.
Arrangements are being taken care of by David Funeral Home in Erath, LA., 209 East Putnam Street, (337) 937-0405.

DELCAMBRE — People from the town of Delcambre said their goodbyes this past week to the biggest fan of Delcambre High School.
That honor belonged to Brittney Jaide Migues, 37, who died after a short illness. Known as “BJ” to the town of Delcambre, Migues spent most of her life in a wheelchair. She was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy at the age of one. But that never slowed her down.
Her mom, Sandy, remembers Brittney telling her in grade school that she was not handicap. She “just could not walk.”
That is how she treated her life. She never let the wheelchair slow her down. With the help of her parents, Sandy and Benny, Brittney was at every Delcambre sporting event. At the football games, her family sat west of the stadium near the scoreboard.
At basketball games, she sat to the right when you walked onto the court. She wore her orange and black proudly.
For baseball and softball games, she helped keep the scorebook.
This past Friday, the Migues family attended a Delcambre football game for the first time without Brittney. They had just buried their daughter that Tuesday. Despite the pain, they attended and were overwhelmed with what had taken place.
A group of seniors set up an orange chair with the balloons “B” and “J” tied where Brittney would generally sit for football games. Before the game, a line of DHS senior football player, managers and cheerleaders stood in a straight line and walked up the chair and placed an orange rose on the chair.
In honor of their most loyal fan, a white cross with the initials “BJ” was painted in the end zone.
“It was awesome,” said Sandy on Sunday night. “We sat and watched as everyone dropped a rose. It was beautiful.”
Delcambre head football coach Artie Liuzza was proud of DHS for honoring Brittney.
“I thought it was incredible,” said Liuzza. “This is what the Delcambre community is all about. I am proud of the kids and the community.”
Delcambre Principal Chantel Helms said the DHS students thought of Brittney as a “big sister.”
“I really do not think the student athletes thought of her as a classmate,” said Helms. “I think they thought of her as a big sister. One that was always there to support her little brothers and sisters at every sports event.”
Helms said Brittney did not mind stating what the coaches should be calling or what skill the players were lacking or what position they should be playing.
“We all took that with love, the same love that she had for the Delcambre Panthers,” said Helms.
For the funeral, Delcambre students wore orange shirts and lined the sidewalk and inside the church as Brittney and her family made their way to the front of the church. She was buried in an orange t-shirt with the number 70528 (the town of Delcambre’s zip code) on the chest.
Sandy said the Delcambre community, including the school, have been overwhelming with support.
Brittney did not let a wheelchair slow her down. She loved going to concerts, the beach, and other sporting events and eating out with friends and family.
Before she passed away, the school had planned to name Brittney the grand marshal of the homecoming parade. Despite her death, the school will honor Brittney as the grand marshal, with a float that will be filled with family members.
This Tuesday will mark the first week of Brittney’s funeral. During that time, the Migues family realizes how much Brittney did and how much she was a massive part of the family. She helped pay the family bills online and organized trips and events.
They just spent their first painful week without the daughter.
“It has been empty,” said her mom. “We are lost. She did everything for us.”
Looking back, Brittney was not expected to live past 10 years old after being diagnosed with Werdnig Hoffman Disease, a type of Muscular Dystrophy. But, somehow, she beat the odds and lived life to its fullest for 37 years.
The Migues dedicated their life to raising their only child. And based on the support the community of Delcambre paid homage to her, it looks like they did a great job. Now seven days after burying her, the Migues realize that Brittney made their life complete.
“Without her, our lives may not have been complete. She made our lives through her life. We are going to miss her so much.”

How you start your day sets the pattern for how you’ll feel and what you will accomplish during the day. Your morning routine has a big impact on whether you have a good day, or a bad one. The tone for your entire day is set by your first couple of hours.
You’ve already experienced this phenomenon. How does you day go when you are late for work due to circumstances beyond your control? Perhaps you encountered much heavier than normal traffic, or the train or bus you were on broke down. When your day starts off wrong everything that follows seems tainted.
Some people seem to be immune to negativity. These individuals can fall into a mud hole and climb out unsoiled. Then there are those individuals who attract mud wherever they go. Everything they touch dissolves into disarray.
The difference between the two groups of people is attitude. The first group starts their day as one of opportunity, whereas the second group looks at each day as problematic. A shift in mindset is all that’s required to move from the second group into the first.
Your expectations determine the direction of your daily path. When you expect your day to be stress and problem filled that’s the direction it will go. On the other hand, when you look forward to the upcoming day with optimism and joy your results will be more desirable.
Starting your day full of fear takes you down a negative path. Fear clouds your thinking, impairs your judgement, and feeds procrastination. Fear is displaced with positive action. Instead of being afraid of what might happen, determine what steps you can take to bring you your desired results.
Start your day by acting the way you want it to go. Have confidence, determination, and a positive attitude. Your actions influence your emotions. So, smile to feel happy rather than waiting to feel happy before you smile.
Exercise your mind and body. Your mind, like your muscles, requires regular use to stay in shape. Solving problems is a great mental workout. The more problems you solve, the better you become. Start your day by formulating solutions for any problems you may be facing.
Your body requires movement to stay in healthy shape. Starting your day with just 15 minutes of exercise also boosts your mindset. Effective exercise can be as simple as a brisk walk. Regular, consistent exercise provides numerous life-long benefits.
Start your day with an open mind. Be open to new strategies, solutions, and approaches. Be ready and willing to change, adapt, and improvise as needed. Look to others who have successfully followed a similar path for inspiration.
Start your day with a can do, will do spirit. Set your mind to accomplish whatever is needed. Drive, discipline, and determination propel you forward. If one approach doesn’t bring you desired results, alter your strategy. Never, ever, give up.
You attract what you think about. Start each day focusing your thoughts on what you want, not what you don’t want. Put everything into positive terms. Look to where you want to go, rather than what you want to avoid.
Start each day being proactive. Have a determination to do whatever it takes to move closer to your goals. Don’t wait for things to happen, make them happen. You are in charge. If you are not happy with your current direction, change course.
Start each day on the right foot with a positive attitude, outlook, and determination. You have the power to shape each day into what you want it to be. Unexpected challenges and surprises will occur. It’s the way you start your day which makes the difference.