Miss. fugitive gunned down by Fla. deputies
Published 11:01 pm Tuesday, April 21, 2009
An autopsy has shown that a man killed by sheriff’s deputies in north Florida was a Mississippi fugitive twice featured on “America’s Most Wanted” for allegedly beating to death his mother.
St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Charles E. “Chuck” Mulligan says 52-year-old Rodney Joseph Lasseigne was identified from dental and fingerprint records.
Three deputies responding to a call early Saturday about a stolen semi saw the Toyota Yaris associated with the Gautier, Miss., man, just off Interstate 95 in rural St. Augustine, Fla.
They approached the car and opened fire after the man brandished a sawed-off shotgun.
Lasseigne’s mother, 68-year-old Juanita Gibson of Gautier, was beaten to death in July 2008.