A man accused in a brutal slaying in Shreveport’s Anderson Island neighborhood just over a year ago pleaded guilty Tuesday, October 23, 2018, to second-degree murder.

Roy Jemane Narcisse, 26, pleaded guilty in the killing of Kathleen Cates. He allocuted before Judge Ramona Emanuel, stating that on September 26, 2017, he and his co-defendant, Kiana Williams, also 26, bicycled to Cates’ home and offered to do yard work, such as they had done on previous occasions.

At some point, he said, they formulated a plan to rob the victim of her car, a 2005 Honda Accord. Narcisse said he entered the home and physically attacked Cates, stabbing and beating her to death.

Family members, who conducted a wellness check after becoming concerned about Cates’ whereabouts, found her deceased in her home and called police. Police located Narcisse’s and Williams’s bicycles in Cates’ yard. Narcisse and Williams fled in Cates’ car to San Angelo, Texas, where they were taken into custody by Texas authorities. The two later were returned to Caddo Parish and indicted on murder charges.

Williams’s case is still pending. She will return to court October 31, 2018, for a hearing.

After Narcisse entered his guilty plea, Judge Emanuel sentenced him to a mandatory life sentence, without possibility of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. Several of Cates’ family members were present in court to witness Narcisse’s plea.

Narcisse was represented by Larrion Hillman. He was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys William Edwards and Britney A. Green.