Louisiana prison inmate Errol Victor, Sr.
M. L. Lloyd, III.
Sound Off Louisiana subscribers will recall our late 2020 feature entailing prison inmate Errol Victor Sr. complaining about the conditions at the prison where he was being housed in St. Charles Parish. Well, as the old saying goes, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” Victor’s loud complaints may have led to what he describes as a five-hour junket into the State of Mississippi to be relocated to another prison only to ultimately end up in prison at, “some place called Catahoula.”
We can only assume he references Catahoula Correctional Facility. From the sound of Victor’s frustration, it would appear that junket and ultimate destination was not exactly what he had in mind. Let’s listen to a three-minute recording provided to us by Louisiana United International (LUI)’s founder, Belinda Parker-Brown, wherein Victor describes his junket, which he states transpired on Wednesday, December 29, 2020:
Errol Victor, Sr. explains his December 29, 2020 five-hour junket for prison officials to locate a new place to house him.
We’ve had a few subscribers asking to be fully apprised of the Victor matter. Since we’ve now published several features in which LUI has openly advocated for his immediate release, it probably would be a good idea to provide a table with bullet-like statements of what all has transpired. Pre-2015 table entries are derived from this feature.
| Date or General Timeline | Event or Occurrence |
|---|---|
| Sometime prior to April 1, 2008 | Errol Victor Sr. marries a lady named Tonya. They essentially form a Brady Bunch on steroids family as he has seven (7) boys, Tonya has four (4) boys, and they subsequently have two (2) boys together, for a total of 13 children (all boys). |
| April 1, 2008 | M.L. Lloyd III, 8, is pronounced dead at River Parishes Hospital; Errol and Tonya Victor, his mother and stepfather and stepbrother, Errol Victor, Jr., are arrested later that day. |
| April 15, 2008 | Errol Victor Sr., 42, is indicted by a St. John the Baptist Parish grand jury on a charge of first-degree murder in death of M.L. Lloyd III. The boy's mother, Tonya Victor, 33, and stepbrother, Errol Victor Jr., 24, were charged with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. |
| September, 2009 | Errol and Tonya Victor indicted on second-degree murder charges. No charges filed against Errol Victor, Jr. |
| October, 2009 | St. John district attorney's office recuses itself from the case because an assistant district attorney had represented Errol Victor in business ventures. |
| February, 2010 | Judge Madeline Jasmine voids the September 2009 indictment against the Victors because a St. John sheriff's deputy on the grand jury wore a shirt that advertised his employment. |
| April, 2010 | Errol and Tonya Victor are re-indicted on second-degree murder charges in the case. |
| August, 2010 | Errol and Tonya Victor refused to enter a plea during an arraignment on second-degree murder charges. Errol Victor, shouting that he wanted to represent himself, was removed from the courtroom. |
| August, 2010 | Errol and Tonya Victor lose their bid to relocate their murder case from St. John Parish district court to federal court. The lawsuit alleged that the state is pursuing the "indictment solely because (the) defendants are African-Americans in St. John Parish" and that African-Americans are more likely to be treated unfairly, prosecuted and incarcerated in St. John than white defendants. U.S. District Judge Lance Africk said he found "no legitimate statutory basis" to remove the case from district court, stating precedent has shown that federal courts should not interfere with ongoing state court proceedings. |
| October, 2010 | Judge Mary Hotard Becnel agrees to allow Errol and Tonya Victor to use their right to self-representation. Over the couple's objections, Becnel also appointed attorneys from the public defenders office to act as advisers. The Victors said they didn't want the help because the attorneys didn't agree with their strategy. |
| August, 2011 | Judge Mary Hotard Becnel issues a bench warrant for the arrest of Errol and Tonya Victor after the couple fails to show up for their second-degree murder trial. |
| April, 2012 | Errol and Tonya Victor are captured and arrested in Georgia after being featured on television show, "America's Most Wanted." |
| July, 2012 | Errol and Tonya Victor are extradited to Louisiana, booked in St. John Parish with jumping bail. |
| August, 2014 | Errol Victor found guilty of second-degree murder; Tonya Victor found guilty of manslaughter in the death of 8-year-old M.L. Lloyd III. |
| September 14, 2014 | Tonya (sentenced to 21 years - eligible for parole after serving 11), and Victor (sentenced to life in prison), go on a tirade at sentencing. |
| November 6, 2018 | Louisiana voters overwhelming approve requiring a unanimous jury for a felony conviction. Victor was sentenced to life in prison based on a 10-2 verdict. |
| April 27, 2020 | U. S. Supreme Court vacates Victor's sentence based on the fact he was sentenced by a 10-2 jury verdict rather than 12-0. |
| November 24, 2020 | Victor makes a pro-se filing seeking to have his $1.5 million bond reduced, to be released based on not having been re-charged for the crime (alleged violation of right to a "quick and speedy" trial). Note: On page 17 of the linked 34-page document, the judge notates the fact that the $1.5 million bond had been vacated by the judge's own motion and that, upon a subsequent hearing on the matter, bond was denied. |
| December 23, 2020 | LUI holds this "emergency press conference" fearing Victor may succumb to the Corona virus while being housed in the St. Charles Parish jail |
| December 29, 2020 | Victor is taken on the junket outlined in this feature. LUI founder Belinda Parker-Brown sends this correspondence to the prison warden. |
So, why the headline of today’s feature? Because all of this incredible turmoil in the lives of everyone involved, the massive cost to Louisiana taxpayers, etc. all resulted from discipline allegedly inflicted for enjoying an ice cream bar without permission. From the preceding feature:
The sons — now ages 16, 18, 20 and 21 — each testified before a St. John the Baptist Parish jury that M.L. was whipped and beaten by Errol Victor, or whipped by one of Victor’s biological sons under his instructions, on March 31 and April 1, 2008, for taking an ice cream bar without permission.
Brandon Williams, 20, later testified that Errol Victor asked M.L. if he was sorry as he whipped him.
“(M.L.) said, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Williams said. “(Errol Victor) said, “No, you’re not sorry because you’re not crying.”
At one point, they say, Errol Victor poured alcohol on the bleeding wounds on M.L.’s buttocks and whipped him some more. Victor also called Tonya Victor upstairs to watch the whipping, they said.
“She said ‘Stop, I don’t want to see this’,” Brandon Williams said. She was crying, but she didn’t try to intervene, he said.
Only a select few people know for sure what took place on March 31 and April 1, 2008, but one thing is for certain. If the 10 jurors who voted to convict got it right (or, we guess, even if they may have gotten it wrong since we all are where we are on this thing), that was a massively-expensive ice cream bar, both from an emotional standpoint and especially from a cost standpoint on the taxpayers of Louisiana!
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