CROWLEY, La. (AP) — An Acadia Parish jury has found 45-year-old Kerry Bertrand guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his stepdaughter, 20-year-old Skylar Credeur.
Media outlets report that Credeur's body was found in a bathtub in August 2013, lying in the water with a laptop on her chest and plugged in. A coroner ruled that Credeur was accidentally electrocuted. However, a later autopsy revealed Credeur had drowned, and that she had head injuries and strangulation marks on her neck.
Not long before her death, Credeur had spoken out about years of alleged sexual abuse at the hands of Bertrand.
Prosecutor Burleigh Doga argued that Bertrand held Credeur under the water until she drowned. Bertrand's attorney, Thomas Alonzo, argued that the coroner's original ruling was correct, and the death was an accident.
Bertrand will be sentenced on Wednesday.
Bertrand, according to reports at the time, was found hiding in the attack of the home where Credeur was found dead moments after her body was discovered.
The Independent cover story for our November 2013 issue, "Skyler Lee Credeur: 1993-2013," pointed to failures by law enforcement and the state prosecutor's office in creating circumstances that led to Credeur's death. Click the cover story image below to read the flip version of that story.
