Man wanted for Ville Platte murder captured in Texas

Authorities in Texas have captured a man wanted in the July 22, 2013, shooting death of 32-year-old Joseph John of Ville Platte, who was shot in front of a relative's home.
Although Reokinski Thomas, 30, has been a suspect in the murder since the very beginning, it was not until recently that Ville Platte Police Chief Neal Lartigue said there was enough evidence to secure a grand jury indictment. This new evidence was brought to the surface after the FBI joined in the investigation and managed to gather additional information regarding this case.
When the grand jury decided to indict Thomas, he was quickly arrested without incident at his home in Beaumont.
The Ville Platte Police initially struggled with this investigation in 2013, citing fear as a major factor in witnesses not wanting to come forward with information.
During the investigation last year, police issued a call for those with information to come forward, with Lartigue stating, “We continue to ask for help and continue to remind everyone that all information shared with this department is kept confidential and anonymous,. We don’t want anyone to live in fear and we will keep them anonymous, but someone walking our streets killed another person and if you know something and don’t come forward anonymously, you are helping this person remain free.”
Now that Thomas is in custody, Lartigue said he and his department were happy to have this case solved.