District Attorney Collin Sims reports that on July 21, 2025, Judge William H. Burris sentenced 25-year-
old Christian Cartez Myers of Bogalusa to life in prison for the 2022 second degree murder of 50-year-old Veronique Allen. In June, a Washington Parish jury deliberated for one hour before returning a guilty verdict against Myers for second degree murder, assault by drive-by shooting and illegal use of weapons. In addition to the life sentence, Judge Burris sentenced Myers to ten years in prison on the assault by drive-by shooting charge and two years in prison on the illegal discharge of weapons charge. The court ordered all sentences to run concurrent with each other. Assistant District Attorneys Le’Anne Malnar and Christina Fisher prosecuted the case. Detective Justin Blackwell headed the investigation for the Bogalusa Police Department.
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Testimony during the trial established that around noon on August 23, 2022, officers with the Bogalusa Police Department responded to a residence on Main Street after receiving reports of a shooting. Upon entering the residence, officers found 50-year-old Veronique Allen had suffered a fatal gunshot wound to her head. Witnesses present at the residence described a normal family gathering interrupted by a burst of gunfire from outside the residence. Several bullets penetrated the residence, one striking Allen.
After securing video surveillance footage from a nearby residence and church, detectives were able to ascertain the license plate number of a vehicle observed circling the residence several times during the shooting. The license plate number was disseminated to law enforcement agencies across the state and later that afternoon, the Lafayette Police Department located the vehicle on one of its streets. When officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop of the vehicle, it fled at a high rate of speed. During the pursuit, the occupants ditched the vehicle and fled on foot. A convenience store surveillance camera recorded one of the occupants running away. The video was later shown to relatives of Allen to determine if they could recognize the subject. They all identified him as Christian Myers.
An arrest warrant was issued for Myers. Several months later, Myers was arrested in Maine and extradited back to Washington Parish. When questioned by detectives, he admitted to being the driver of the vehicle during the drive-by shooting. Myers said he had a “beef” with a man who turned out to be a relative of the deceased victim. Armed with weapons, Myers and several other males rode around Bogalusa looking for their intended target. They eventually ended up at the residence on Main Street. Myers said they riddled the residence with a barrage of gunfire and then fled.
During the sentencing, several relatives of the deceased victim made statements to the court and to the defendant. They lamented how the deceased victim had welcomed the defendant into her home when he was a child. They said their family lives in fear and that the victim’s residence is no longer a place for happy family gatherings.
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