Robert LeCompte, a 39-year-old gay bartender, was stabbed 13 times in the Drama Club before succumbing to his injuries. Young was found guilty of the murder and charged with it. In the end, he was sentenced to life in prison.
Darkus Baker, a New Orleans resident, informed authorities that Young had left in her car on Christmas Eve. He is said to have stated that he was going shopping. However, the next day, he returned home and confessed to stabbing Robert LeCompte repeatedly with a screwdriver to death.
Investigating the whereabouts of the killer and other details surrounding Robert LeCompte’s brutal murder
Robert LeCompte’s body was discovered at The Drama Club, a bar on North Hollywood Road that caters primarily to LGBTQ+ patrons. The victim was a manager and bartender at the establishment.
The police realised the case would be difficult after seeing LeCompte’s blood-soaked body in the middle of Drama Club’s splotchy dancefloor. Despite stab wounds that suggested a hate crime, the murder was later revealed to be the result of an attempted robbery.
Assistant District Attorney Jason Dagate of Terrebonne Parish said:
“It was difficult because it was going to be a mystery.”
The investigation led to the arrest of Jorell Young, who was subsequently convicted of the murder of Robert LeCompte. For his crime, the accused was sentenced to a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole. Even now, he is incarcerated.
Despite the fact that Young was the prime suspect in the murder case, progress was slow due to a lack of evidence. The case was only moved forward after Darkus Baker, Young’s ex-girlfriend, provided material proof and revealed Young’s confession about the murder of Robert LeCompte. Nellie Young, the accused’s mother, and Cateria Young, the accused’s sister, were arrested in the courthouse and charged with insinuating, obstructing, or threatening a witness (Baker).
According to trial testimony, Nellie told Baker:
“I’m going to cut you up into little pieces and feed you to [your baby].”
Young stabbed LeCompte 13 times with a screwdriver with the intent of robbing him, according to the trial. The club’s owner claimed that the venue had been robbed of over $3,000 in cash. Young was sentenced to death for the first-degree murder of Robert LeCompte, but after discussions with the victim’s family, he was spared.
Assistant District Attorney Mark Rhodes commented:
“In a capital case it can take 15 years to bring somebody to justice. Those are always very difficult decisions.”
Randall Chesnut, the victim’s long-time friend, housemate, and owner of the Drama Club, said regretfully:
“This club has always been part of the gay community since it opened, and we have always stood up for the rights of gay people here. I do feel we have been kind of abandoned, for whatever reason I cant understand. But my intention is to stick by the community for better or worse, and not close down so that people are left with the backstreet dumps they went to for years.”