U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that DON RAINES, age 34, TRAVON PITTS, age 28, and BARON SMITH, age 36, all of Tangipahoa Parish, have been charged in a superseding Bill of Information with participating in the October 9, 2015 murders of QUANDELL BEARD and ELLIOT SMITH in Tangipahoa Parish. Count One charges RAINES and PITTS with committing second degree murder by using a firearm during the course of a drug trafficking crime. Count Two charges SMITH with committing first degree murder as a result of the same firearms offense.
RAINES, PITTS and SMITH are currently in federal custody and have been detained without bond. Trial in this matter is currently set before U.S. District Judge Lance M. Africk on April 4, 2016.
All three defendants face a sentence of up to life in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and up to five years of supervised release.
United States Attorney Polite reiterated that the Bill of Information is merely a charged and that the guilt of the defendants much be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Maurice E. Landrieu, Jr. is in charge of the prosecution.