Two South Louisiana Men Convicted in 2019 Shreveport Murder

A pair of south Louisiana men face life in prison without any hope of reprieve after their conviction on second-degree murder charges in Caddo District Court Friday, December 15, 2023.

Jonathan Crenshaw and Terence Felix Jr., both of Abbeville, will formally be sentenced January 16, 2024 by District Judge Mike Pitman. A seven-woman, five-man jury in his courtroom deliberated an hour before returning a unanimous verdict against Crenshaw, 38, and Felix, 33, for the August 20, 2019, slaying of Derrick Purnell Terrell at the Knight’s Inn motel in west Shreveport. The mandatory prison term must be served at hard labor without the benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

On August 20, 2019, Terrell, 45, was killed at the Knight’s Inn when Crenshaw and Felix chased him throughout the hotel and shot him multiple times after a dispute involving Tamala Ware, a woman with whom Terrell was seeing and who had a room at the motel. Following the shooting, Crenshaw fled in Terrell's vehicle and Felix fled in his own truck. Ms. Ware, who faces separate second-degree murder charges in connection with Terrell's slaying, also fled. Terrell's vehicle later was found torched. Felix and Crenshaw were identified by multiple witnesses on the surveillance footage from the hotel as well as still shots taken from that  footage.

Assistant District Attorneys Kodie K. Smith and Bill Edwards prosecuted Crenshaw and Felix. Crenshaw was defended by Michael Enright and Dave Knadler. Felix was defended by Sean Landry.

The case was docket No. 369850.