When David Howell arrived at the courtouse in St. Tammany Parish on May 15, he was hoping to see Blaine Manalle stand trial for the killing of his brother, Jeffery Howell.
Instead, Howell said prosecutors with the 22nd Judicial District Attorney's Office told him the trial was being delayed again, this time until July 10, and that they didn't think they had enough evidence to win a conviction against Manalle, 24, a Slidell woman who was one of two people charged with second-degree murder in Howell's death during a fight on a sandbar in the West Pearl River in June 2018.
“The whole thing is a sad situation. I begged them to at least take it to trial, but they told me they felt they didn’t have a shot,” said Howell. “This case has been screwed up since day one.”
A spokesperson with the DA’s Office said they couldn’t comment on recent proceedings.
A fight broke out between two groups on a sandbar just south of the Davis Landing boat launch. Howell, who in weeks prior to his death had undergone surgery to remove a brain tumor, died of blunt force trauma to the head, according to the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office.
Court records show trial dates in the Manalle case have been canceled or continued at least eight times since 2019. The delay in her trial comes a few months months after a St. Tammany Parish jury found Cameron Alphonso not guilty of second-degree murder in the case.
“There's so much stuff we don't understand with this whole case,” said Georgina Bennett, Howell’s sister. “People have done a lot less than this, but they don't even want to take it to trial because they feel they don't have a case.”
Alphonso’s attorney, Jeffrey Hufft, said both sides in the Manalle case are likely prepping for when charges are dropped.
Alphonso, who shares a child with Manalle, was found not guilty in February after an eight-day trial. During the trial, attorneys challenged local autopsy reports by calling expert medical witnesses to the stand who testified that Howell could have suffered a fatal heart attack related to his recent brain surgery.
One of the experts, Michael Baden, is the host of the HBO series "Autopsy," and also testified for the defense in the O.J. Simpson trial.
“The fact we waited five years . . . and still have had no closure at all. It’s unbelievable,” said Bennett.
Attempts to reach out to Manalle’s attorney were unsuccessful.