Man gets 20 years in disarming deputy case
Charges stem from arrest for trespassing
A Lake Charles man was sentenced Friday in state district court to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to disarming a Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s deputy.
Donovan Christian Lawrence, 27, was sentenced by Judge Sharon Wilson. He received the maximum 20-year sentence on the charge of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon; 10 years for aggravated assault with a firearm; and five years for disarming of a police officer. All sentences are to run concurrent, at hard labor, and with credit for time served.
Lawrence pleaded guilty to the charges Oct. 10.
At sentencing, the courtroom was full of officers in support of the deputy, Craig Guillory Jr., who was emotional when testifying about the day that Lawrence pointed the gun at him.
“I never thought I would see the barrel of my own pistol pointed at me,” Guillory told the court. He testified that during the scuffle for the gun, when he heard Lawrence say he would kill him, “there was no doubt that he would.”
Guillory said during that time, tunnel vision took over and “images of my family” were the things going through his mind.
Wilson said that after watching the officer’s body cam video, she did not think the scenario would end the way it did. She also told Lawrence that when Guillory chose not to shoot him when he charged at the deputy, it was a blessing.
The charges stemmed from a call that deputies responded to May 18 in which Lawrence was arrested for trespassing at a convenience store on La. 14.
Authorities said while the deputy was searching Lawrence’s property, he found synthetic marijuana. Lawrence then began to physically resist the deputy’s verbal commands and ran from him, authorities said.
Lawrence committed a battery on the deputy, gaining control of him after a brief foot chase. Guillory said he was forced to use his taser in an attempt to gain control of Lawrence, but Lawrence disarmed him.
Lawrence continued to fight the deputy before again gaining control of his firearm by biting him. He pointed the gun at Guillory and threatened to kill him.
Lawrence was seen attempting to dispose of the firearm by additional responding deputies and taken into custody.
After the incident, Guillory was treated and released from a local hospital.
Elliott Cassidy of the Calcasieu Parish District Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. Josh Monroe of the Public Defender’s Office was the defense attorney.