Shreveport teen gets 35 years at hard labor over slaying, robbery of man in 2020

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) — A Shreveport teenager must serve 35 years in prison at hard labor for his role in the slaying and robbery of a man more than two years ago.

That’s the decision of a Caddo District Court judge after 18-year-old Javonpe Deandre Winbush pled guilty Monday, March 20 to one count each of manslaughter and robbery.

The case against Winbush, who was 16 at the time of the killing of 26-year-old Joshua Roshell in September 2020, was transferred to Caddo District Court after a continued custody hearing in Caddo Juvenile Court.

Had Winbush not taken the plea arrangement, he would have faced a mandatory life prison term had he been convicted as charged of second-degree murder, the Caddo district attorney’s office reports. Winbush would have been eligible for parole after 25 years due to him being a juvenile at the time of the crime.

The plea arrangement was agreed to by Roshell’s mother, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Winbush has two separately indicted co-defendants who face trial in Caddo District Court.

The district attorney’s office says Roshell was contacted by phone and offered a chance to buy marijuana. He met Winbush and his co-defendants at a vacant house in the 1800 block of Doris Street. The three men forced Roshell out of his car and robbed him at gunpoint. One of the co-defendants removed his hoodie, revealing his face to Roshell. The three assailants then shot Roshell once in the head and left in Roshell’s car, which later was found abandoned on Slattery Boulevard. Roshell’s body was discovered Sept. 24, 2020.

Winbush incriminated a “Ray Ray” who was not arrested due to a lack of corroborating evidence, according to the prosecutor’s office. A co-defendant who claimed he was not present during the robbery and slaying but rode with Winbush later in the victim’s car claimed that Winbush admitted to him that he had shot Roshell.