On March 15, a man from Terrebonne Parish admitted to stabbing his girlfriend 44 times all over her body during an argument on Grand Isle. He was charged with second-degree mur*der.
Randy Paul Marcel, 29, of Chauvin, pleaded guilty even though he knew he would spend the rest of his life in prison. He said that on June 21, 2014, he ki*lled Jennifer Dozier, who was his girlfriend of two years and also from Chauvin.
Dozier, 34, died around 10 p.m. His left leg had been cut off because of injuries he got in a car accident. In the grassy parking lot near the beach at Cypress Lane and Louisiana 1, police found her body next to her aluminium crutches.
Marcel, Dozier, her 2-year-old son, a friend, and the friend’s cousin were in Grand Isle for the weekend with Marcel and Dozier when the couple got into a fight over a number of issues. When they got into a fight over having his cigarettes, Marcel hit her hard.
She got up and walked to their car, telling Marcel she was calling the police. That’s when Marcel attacked her with a fillet knife with a blue handle that he had bought days before. Besides Marcel’s cousin and their third friend, Dozier’s child was also nearby and saw the attack.
In court, Patricia Killingsworth, Dozier’s mother, said that she hears her 4-year-old grandson cry every night for his mother.
Killingsworth said in court, “I cannot begin to tell anyone the heartache and pain that I suffer every night and every day without her.” It wasn’t easy with her, but she was mine. She was my child.
Marcel quietly cried during the sentencing hearing, but he didn’t say anything to Dozier’s family members who came from Terrebonne Parish to see the sentencing in person at the Jefferson Parish Courthouse in Gretna.
Dozier was stabbed 10 times in the head, two of which went through her brain. She also had 24 wounds on her body, 5 in her neck, and 3 defensive wounds on her hands. From what the Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office knows, she was stabbed at least once after she died.
Marcel hid and ran after the attack. A person who lived nearby saw the police searching the area and saw Marcel hiding in tall grass near the end of Cypress Lane. The resident called the police, who then arrested Marcel. Marcel told police three stories. At first, he said he passed out and didn’t remember anything. He finally admitted it, but he said he only stabbed Dozier twice out of self-defense, according to Sgt. Travis Eserman, the detective from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office who was in charge of the investigation.
Marcel was charged with second-degree mur*der and was supposed to go to court this week. He has been jailed since being arrested. He was dressed for trial and sat in 24th Judicial District Court Judge Lee Faulkner’s courtroom, but he pleaded guilty before the first group of potential jurors was led to court.
The judge then agreed to put off the sentencing for a few hours so that Dozier’s family had time to get from Terrebonne Parish to the courthouse.
Dozier’s family moved from Laurel, Mississippi, and he left behind three children. Marcel was her boyfriend for about two years, but he didn’t have any of her children. Adam Dozier, her brother, was fined $100 and put in jail for contempt of court last year for punching Marcel in the face as he was being led into court for a pretrial hearing.
Kil*lingsworth said in court, “I’ve tried to be strong through this for my other children.” I’m sorry I haven’t been there for them, I told them. To deal with my grief over the de*ath of my daughter. Know this: my life will never be the same again. I just want to move on.”
Mark Sonnier stopped his trial just after the prosecutor finished her opening statements in 2011. That was the last time a person charged with second-degree mu*rder in Jefferson Parish pleaded guilty.
He said that he ki*lled a man in Metairie with a brass lap while breaking into his home. In his guilty plea, Sonnier told the judge that he did so so that the families of the victims would not have to go through the trial. That case was also heard by Faulkner.
The case was brought by assistant district attorneys Kellie Rish and Molly Massey.
