McKeel sentenced for 2012 slaying

St. Martinville – Joshua McKeel, 25, of St. Martinville, was given a total sentence of 40 years of hard labor for the Jan. 18, 2012 murder of his girlfriend and her unborn child.
McKeel pled guilty to shooting 19-year-old Hannah Parker in the head outside their residence off Our Lady of the Lake Road south of St. Martinville. He then turned the gun on himself, but bystanders persuaded him not to shoot. The seven-month fetus Parker was carrying died as well.
District Judge Greg Aucoin sentenced McKeel to 30 years of hard labor for manslaughter in Parker’s death and 10 years for the death of the unborn child. The sentences are to run concurrently.
McKeel will get credit for time served. He has been incarcerated since the murders.