Shreveport Man Pleads Guilty To Negligent Homicide and Flight

A Shreveport man who led law officers on a chase from Bossier City to Shreveport and then crashed his car, killing a teenaged girl in May 2022, pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and aggravated flight this week in Caddo District Court.

Willie Lawrence Player Jr., 24, entered the plea in District Judge Michael Pitman's court just before the jury was to have been called in Monday, January 22, 2024.

The pleading was in connection with events of May 21, 2022, when Bossier City police attempted to pull over Player's Chevy Tahoe for speeding, improper plates and expired tags. Player fled, leading police, including state troopers, into Shreveport, Bossier Parish and back into Shreveport in a pursuit that lasted 25 minutes. Player eventually crashed the Tahoe into a brick retaining wall, causing the vehicle to flip several times. He then fled on foot. One of the passengers in his vehicle, a 13-year-old girl, was trapped under the overturned SUV and was deceased at the scene.

Judge Pitman immediately sentenced Player to the maximum five years in prison for the negligent homicide conviction and to five years in prison at hard labor for the aggravated flight from officers plea, the terms to be served consecutively. The plea and sentences were approved by the victim's family.

Assistant District Attorneys Victoria Washington and Sam Crichton prosecuted the case, docket No. 389291. Player was defended by Michael Enright.