Mother of Westerly murder suspect: ‘Lou needs a lawyer’
She made a GoFundMe page to raise $10,000 for her son’s legal defense
The mother of murder suspect Louis M. Seignious Jr. has created a GoFundMe page to raise money for her son’s legal defense, even though he is still at large.
Westerly police allege that Seignious, 31, of Norwich shot and killed his cousin Vincent A. Sebastian, 28, of Ledyard at 3:55 p.m. Saturday at an apartment at 11B Marriott Ave. Both men were members of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.
“Lou needs a lawyer,” says the headline on the internet fundraising request for $10,000 posted Wednesday by Alethea Gilliam, also known as Alethea Boyd.
In the narrative, Gilliam claims her son was ambushed after being lured to the Westerly home, and acted in self-defense. As of Thursday evening, nobody had contributed to the fundraiser.
Westerly police have a warrant charging Seignious with first-degree murder, which is considered a capital offense even though Rhode Island does not have the death penalty.
“We’re working closely with Ledyard and Mashantucket Police and the U.S. Marshal’s Office on trying to track him down,” police Chief Shawn Lacey said by phone Thursday. “We’re working with any information we can possibly get and trying to execute every lead we have.
We believe he’s still in the area, though we have gotten reports he’s not.”
Lacey said police “didn’t come up with anything” while investigating a potential sighting of Seignious near Foxwoods Resort Casino on Wednesday night. Ledyard police said about 9 p.m., they were called to the area of Two Trees Inn, a tribe-owned property adjacent to Foxwoods, for a report of a suspicious man. They found nothing.
Seignious has a child with the woman who resides at the Marriott Avenue home, and Sebastian was having a relationship with her, according to Lacey. Sebastian and the woman were out at a child’s birthday party Saturday afternoon when he and Seignious had a phone exchange. They left the party and returned home and were there just a short time when the shooting occurred, Lacey said. Police were called at 4:55 p.m.
There were three small children in the home, ages 1, 6, and 8 years old, Lacey said.
Seignious, who is wanted on a murder charge and is considered armed and dangerous, fled after the shooting and was last seen on the Mashantucket reservation. Police Chief William D. Dittman said one of the officers attempting to stop him about 5 p.m. Saturday had to take evasive action to avoid a head-on collision.
Ledyard police said they recovered an unoccupied silver sedan, believed to be driven by Seignious, a short time later. The car, still running, was parked in the middle of the road in front of 904 Shewville Road. Ledyard police seized the car and turned it over to Westerly police, who obtained a search warrant and processed it for evidence, according to Lacey.
Both Seignious and Sebastian have relatives who serve on the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council, according to Lacey. Tribal Police and U.S. Marshals have knocked on doors on the reservation and questioned some tribal members, he said.
Dittman said he doesn’t believe Seignious is on the reservation. Tribal police have obtained a warrant charging
Seignious with first-degree assault and first-degree reckless endangerment in connection with the attempted vehicle stop. The department is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
At the request of Tribal Police, the New London State’s Attorney’s Office has authorized extradition back to Connecticut, should Seignious be taken into custody anywhere in the continental United States, according to Chief Inspector Philip Fazzino.
Should Seignious be captured in Rhode Island, he would be arraigned on the murder charge at the District Court in Wakefield, according to Lacey.
Providence (AP) — The two, sometimes feuding companies with state gambling contracts in Rhode Island announced a collaboration Thursday they say will maintain the state’s gambling revenue, enhance competitiveness with Massachusetts and Connecticut, and keep jobs in the state.
The announcement from Twin River Worldwide Holdings Inc. and IGT includes a $100 million renovation and expansion of Twin River’s Lincoln casino and the joint creation of a new company to supply video lottery terminals, including slot machines and other electronic games, to the state.
IGT will have a controlling 60% stake in the new company with Twin River owning the remaining 40%.
The deal “will harness the strongest attributes of each company to better serve Rhode Island taxpayers, to preserve valuable jobs and to make meaningful infrastructure improvements at the gambling facilities,” Jay Gendron, IGT’s chief operating officer, said in a statement.
The Rhode Island Division of Lotteries will continue to maintain oversight and regulation of all gambling in the state. Gambling, at two casinos and the lottery, generated nearly $400 million in revenue for the state in the 2019 fiscal year.