Ferriday manslaughter case continued to March 12
Published 4:01 pm Friday, January 31, 2025
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VIDALIA, La. — A status conference for Ben Ceasor, 30, charged with manslaughter after allegedly causing a three-vehicle collision in Ferriday that killed the previous owner of the Donut Shop in Natchez has been continued to March 12, records show.
Ceasor had been scheduled for a status conference on Wednesday concerning the manslaughter and other charges after Seventh Judicial District Court Division B Judge John Reeves deemed there was probable cause to proceed to a trial.
In addition to manslaughter, Ceasor faces other charges from Louisiana State Police which stem from the March 18, 2024, incident in Ferriday, including felony aggravated flight from an officer, misdemeanor resisting an officer, felony aggravated hit and run, misdemeanor vehicular negligent injuring, and felony possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
Additionally, Ceasor faces charges of aggravated second-degree battery, domestic abuse battery and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon from Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office. The latter two are from a December 2023 case that has been continued.
Jason Tyson, 43, who owned the Donut Shop in Natchez, was killed during the wreck in which Ceasor reportedly ran from a traffic stop and ran through a stop sign before crashing into the other vehicles 100 feet or less away from the initial traffic stop.
The driver and a juvenile passenger of the third vehicle involved sustained moderate injuries and were transported to a local hospital, according to a release from Louisiana State Police. Ceasor suffered a broken leg.
Ceasor had been convicted in 2014 of a simple burglary and placed under three years of probation. His probation was revoked after he’d been arrested again in April 2017 for allegedly shooting into an occupied residence on Loomis Lane from a vehicle occupied by two other people. Ceasor’s attempted second-degree murder charges were reduced to two counts of aggravated assault by drive-by shooting, and no bill had been filed on charges of resisting an officer, court records show.
According to District Attorney Brad Burget, the evidence in the 2017 Case “was not very strong for a conviction” but was enough to revoke his probation. Ceasor was then sentenced to serve five years for the 2014 robbery with credit for time served.