Jurors watch dash cam video of shooting as Kevin Daigle capital murder trial continues

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - Kevin Daigle’s trial continued Sunday as jurors watched dash cam video showing State Trooper Steven Vincent being shot.

It was difficult video to watch.

Louisiana State Trooper Steven Vincent seemed to be trying to help an intoxicated Kevin Daigle, who was in a truck that was in a ditch on the side of Fruge Road near Bell City. The video showed Vincent trying to determine if Daigle had been driving the vehicle since he was sitting in the passenger side. Vincent even offered to give the stranded Daigle a ride when, after Vincent walked several times between Daigle’s vehicle and his State Police Unit, Daigle pulled out a sawed off shotgun, turned toward Vincent, and shot him in the head.

Soon after, several passers-by stopped and subdued Daigle while also trying to help Vincent. The men prosecutors called good Samaritans also used Vincent’s state police radio to call for help.

The video, played for the jury, lasted about an hour and ended with a helicopter airlifting Vincent to a local hospital, where he died.

In opening statements, Assistant D.A. Charles Robinson described the killing as in cold blood and told jurors it was a surprise attack, an ambush by Daigle against Vincent. Robinson demonstrated how Daigle turned, steadied the shotgun and fired.

After the shooting Daigle is heard asking Vincent,"Oh, you still alive?" And then telling him, “You’re still going to die.”

Robinson told jurors that no matter how drunk Daigle was, he understood the consequences of his actions.

In her opening, defense attorney Caitlin Graham described the events from a different perspective, saying Daigle was full of alcohol and drugs and that he could neither walk nor stand, suggesting he didn’t understand what was happening.

She says nothing can change the outcome of what happened, but Graham told jurors that what happened was not first-degree murder.

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