Leslie Turk

A founding editor of both The Independent and ABiz and senior editor at The Times of Acadiana in the 1990s, Leslie Turk is an award-winning investigative reporter who has worked in the newspaper business in Lafayette for more than three decades. In 2007 and again in 2017 she received the Louisiana Press Association's highest honor, the Freedom of Information Award. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Acadiana Advocate, The Daily Advertiser, Baton Rouge Business Report, Louisiana Illuminator and Gambit. Contact her at (337) 207-4312 or [email protected].
News + Notes

Forensic audit in hand, Guillory administration turned to FBI on LUS investigation

The gist: City-parish attorneys kicked the findings of a forensic auditor’s report into suspect transactions between LUS and LUS Fiber to the FBI, according to email correspondence with council members. Based on the same evidence in that forensic audit report, and other documents previously handed over, the district attorney declined to prosecute crimes alleged by […]

Read More
News + Notes
protesters at Lafayette City-Parish Hall after Trayford Pellerin was shot by LPD

Family will see redacted video of Trayford Pellerin’s shooting, no timeline set

The gist: A legal path has been cleared for the family of Trayford Pellerin to see the body-worn camera footage documenting the 31-year-old’s fatal encounter with Lafayette police. After a lengthy parlay among lawyers representing Pellerin’s family, Lafayette Consolidated Government and the three media organizations on one hand and the officers involved in the shooting […]

Read More
News + Notes

Guillory vetoes City Council ordinance to hire its own attorney

The gist: Over the objections of City-Parish Attorney Greg Logan, who called the ordinance “illegal,” the Lafayette City Council voted 3-1 last week to hire Baton Rouge attorney Lea Anne Batson to represent its interests in determining how city tax dollars are spent.

Read More
News + Notes

Judge blocks release of Pellerin body cam videos

The gist: A district judge granted a temporary restraining order Tuesday afternoon preventing the release of police body cam video and other evidence related to the Aug. 21 shooting of Trayford Pellerin. Officers involved in the fatal encounter, in which Pellerin was struck 10 times by police gunfire, sought the order to protect their identities. 

Read More
News + Notes

Demanding more transparency, Trayford Pellerin’s family releases independent autopsy challenging details of official story

After police shot 10 bullets into Trayford Pellerin, they handcuffed him, claims the attorney representing Pellerin’s family. Citing an independent autopsy, the attorney challenges the official account of the events leading up Pellerin’s killing and continues to call for authorities to release body cam footage and other documentary evidence that could clarify what happened.

Read More