Pitkin Man Sentenced in 2009 Manslaughter

DERIDDER, La. (AP) — A Pitkin man convicted of manslaughter has received a 38-year sentence.

KPLC TV reports that the sentence for Billie Joe Weldon was handed down Monday by Judge C. Kerry Anderson. It calls for Weldon to serve 38 years with the state Department of Corrections. However, a seven-year stretch of the sentence was suspended.

In September, Weldon was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of 27-year-old Kimberly Ann Stephens of DeRidder.

The Calcasieu Parish Coroner's Office determined that Stephens died of head trauma.

Stephens' body was found in August 2009 near U.S. Highway 171 in the Pleasant Hill community.