One of two women indicted in the fatal fire of a former Oberlin resident pled guilty November 29, to four counts of manslaughter.
Tamielya Alis Brevelle, 32, was set to go to trial on Tuesday on the first-degree murder charge for the Wainwright Street fire that killed Verlana Cooper and her three grandchildren – Jada Cooper, 7; Brooklyn Cooper, 4; and Dreya Russaw, four months old; on February 29, 2020, in the 3400 block of Wainwright Street, Alexandria.
The investigation led authorities to learn the father of Dreya Reign Russaw, Andre Russaw, was involved with Brevelle while with his baby’s mother.
Authorities also secured video footage of Brevelle in the area before the fire and leaving after the fire was set. Brevelle claimed she was there to pick up her child at Bosby’s home. Documentation of conversations in text messages were added to the investigation’s case.
Investigators obtained video surveillance footage “from different security systems throughout the neighborhood and surrounding businesses” on the night of the fire.
Brevelle and her niece, Dorothy Denee Bosby, 27, were both indicted by a Rapides Parish grand jury one count of first-degree murder in the death of Verlana Inell Cooper, 48, formerly of Oberlin. After the fire, the two also were arrested on four counts of second-degree murder and one count of manufacturing or possessing an incendiary device.
On Monday, Brevelle’s indictment was amended by the Rapides Parish District Attorney’s Office to four counts of manslaughter, and she pled guilty as charged. She will be sentenced on December 8, by Judge Mary Doggett.
If convicted, the two women would face life in prison at hard labor without the benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.
