The state Supreme Court will review the case of a Lake Charles man whose life sentence was reversed by the Court of Appeal in a 2018 fatal overdose death Allen Parish.

Deon Ray Bartie, 39, was convicted of second-degree murder in 2023 for his role in the September 2018 overdose death of Brittany Nicole Lapeyrouse of Chavin. Prosecutors accused Bartie of selling drugs to the victim, who later died from a drug overdose.

In June, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal reversed Bartie’s conviction and vacated his life sentence on a second-degree murder charge.

In a ruling issued this week, the Supreme Court said it will review the case and ordered the district court and Court of Appeal to send their records in the case so they can review it.

Bartie contends that he was wrongfully convicted, arguing there wasn’t enough evidence to support his conviction.

The Court of Appeal found there was insufficient evidence to convict Barties of second-degree murder and ordered the conviction reversed, a judgement of acquittal entered and the sentence vacated.

Bartie was sentenced to a mandatory life in prison for second-degree murder and five years each for possession of methamphetamine, possession of alprazolam and for illegal carrying of weapons. All sentences were to be served concurrently.

On his appeal, Bartie contended that the state failed to provide evidence that the drugs he provided to the victim were the direct cause of her death. He argued that someone else supplied the victim with the heroin and that the court refused his request for a forensic toxicologist.

However, the state contends that it provided evidence to the jury that Bartie sold methamphetamine to the victim the day of her death and that it, either on its own or with other narcotics, caused the victim’s death based on testimony and text messages from Bartie’s cell phone.

The victim was found dead in a chalet in Kinder after being moved from a Lake Charles hotel. Testimony from a witness indicated that the victim was still breathing when she was transported from Lake Charles to Kinder, but was later found unconscious with blue lips.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Christopher Tape testified that the victim died due to multiple drugs in her body. High levels of morphine, fentanyl, methamphetamine and amphetamine were found in her body, according to his testimony.