Man guilty of murder didn’t hear the verdict — because he escaped during lunch break, Ga. cops say

A Georgia man on trial for murder in April didn’t stick around to hear the verdict.

Instead, 26-year-old Verlaine Laguerre slipped out of an Atlanta, Georgia, courthouse during a lunch break April 20, according to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office.

More than week later, the escaped convict is still on the run, FOX 5 reports. Georgia authorities described Laguerre as dangerous.

Though Laguerre wasn't there to hear it himself, a jury found him guilty of murder, felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, according to the district attorney. Laguerre and an accomplice were sentenced to life in prison, plus five years.

The murder conviction came years after Laguerre and his victim, 19-year-old Matthew Hardeman, got into an October 2011 fist fight in southeast Atlanta after exchanging "dirty looks," prosecutors said.

Laguerre and two accomplices drove back to scene after the fist fight, armed with an assault rifle and handgun. They shouted out the car window to a witness, asking: “Where’s your boy?” according to prosecutors.

Almost instantly, Hardeman appeared — and Laguerre and his accomplices unleashed a “barrage of gunfire” that left Hardeman dead, the district attorney’s office said. The murderers then fled the crime scene.

Hardeman’s body, shot 50 times, was discovered by his family in his front yard. The family told FOX 5 they’re worried what Laguerre is capable of while on the run.

One of Laguerre’s accomplices, Prentice Baker Jr., 28, was also convicted of murder April 20, according to the district attorney. The third accomplice was never identified.

The case was first tried in 2014, but a mistrial was declared when the proceedings conflicted with the Christmas holiday, the district attorney’s office said. During a 2015 retrial, the defense appealed claiming double jeopardy. The case went to trial after the defense lost that appeal in May 2017.

Hardeman “had his whole life in front of him” when he was killed, prosecutors said. He was a student at California State University, Fullerton, where he had a football scholarship until a knee injury sent him home.

Laguerre and Baker were both granted bond in 2012. They were required to wear ankle monitors and observe a curfew. The district attorney’s office said it fought to revoke bond, but that request was denied.

Laguerre got into more legal trouble in 2015 when he was out on bond, prosecutors said. He was arrested on marijuana and firearm charges that year — but he again was released from jail on bond.

"I’m just surprised that once he was re-arrested for a drug violation that the bond for the murder wasn't revoked,” Darryl Cohen, a criminal defense attorney, told TV station 11 Alive.

Anyone who spots Laguerre is advised to call 911 or the U.S. Marshal’s Office, and not to approach him, FOX 5 reports.

This story was originally published May 1, 2018 at 8:04 PM with the headline "Man guilty of murder didn’t hear the verdict — because he escaped during lunch break, Ga. cops say."