In the fall of 2020, Cyrus Lee kicked down the doors of his girlfriend's Marrero home and beat her three times, according to Jefferson Parish court records.
On June 3, Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office detectives say Lee, 21, returned to her Melba Place home armed with a gun. This time, he targeted the woman's new boyfriend, shooting and killing him, according to authorities.
Lee, and his brother, Cyre Lee, 20, both of New Orleans, were arrested Saturday and booked with first-degree murder, aggravated burglary and obstruction of justice, said Sgt. Brandon Veal, spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office.
In addition to the charges related to the homicide, Cyrus Lee was booked with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and for parole violation.
Marrero murder
The Lee brothers are accused in the murder of Jeffrey Soler Meza, 21, of Kenner.
Investigators allege Cyre Lee was with Cyrus Lee just over a week ago when he entered his ex-girlfriend's Marrero home through a window. Both men were armed, Veal said.
Soler was shot inside the residence. The Lee brothers fled the scene before deputies arrived, according to authorities. Soler was pronounced dead at the scene.
No other details were available about the shooting.
Detectives obtained warrants for the brothers' arrest, and they surrendered themselves to investigators, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Violent break-ins
Cyrus Lee was 18 and his ex-girlfriend was 17 in 2020 when authorities say he attacked her at the Melba Place home, according to court records. The pair had been dating for about two years when she reported that he kicked in the front door of the residence and beat her in front of a 9-year-old child.
Lee took the victim's cell phone so she couldn't call for help and left the residence. But he returned the same day, kicked in the back door and beat her again, court records said.
The victim was able to call a relative for help using an iPad. But while talking to the family member, Lee returned for a third time and beat her, again, court records said.
He was still at the house when deputies, summoned by the relative, arrived. Lee fought with the officers and shattered a window on a patrol vehicle before being taken into custody, court records said.
Guilty plea
Lee pleaded guilty in 2022 to battery of a dating partner, violation of a protective order, unauthorized entry of a residence, resisting police and simple criminal damage to property for breaking into his girlfriend's house and attacking her, court records said.
Judge Frank Brindisi of the 24th Judicial District Court suspended a three-year sentence in the case and ordered Lee to serve three years of active probation, court records said.
But Brindisi revoked Lee's probation and reinstated the original sentence in October 2022 after Lee was arrested in New Orleans on drug charges, court records said. The date of his parole release from prison was not immediately available Monday.
Cyrus Lee was being held without bail at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna on the murder and parole violation charges, jail records said. Bail was set at $160,000 for the other charges in the case.
Cyre Lee was being held without bail for murder. Bail was set at $100,000 for his other charges.