St. Charles Parish man facing up to 50 years after guilty plea in fatal boating accident

July 20, 2024

LULING, La. (WVUE) - A St. Charles Parish man could face up to 50 years in state prison after changing his plea Monday (Oct. 31) in connection with a deadly boating accident that happened more than two years ago.

Kevin Comardelle, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of vehicular homicide and four counts of negligent injuring.

Comardelle told the court he was sorry for his actions and asked for forgiveness. But victims, their friends and family members said the pain of their loss will never go away.

Seven friends and family members gave emotional victim impact statements, staring at Comardelle the whole time.

Comardelle was arrested in 2020, after a July 4th boating accident in Bayou Gauche that claimed the life of 36-year-old nurse Audrey Higgins.

The court was packed Monday with many of her friends and relatives, including Blake Comardelle, who was in the boat that was struck and suffered extensive injuries including broken ribs, a collapsed lung and a fractured leg that nearly had to be amputated.

“I’m feeling good, happy to get some closure, but not until sentencing,” he said. “But, I’m happy to see him hauled off in handcuffs.”

Higgins’ friends said the accident wouldn’t have occurred if Comardelle had been put in jail three months earlier, when he was arrested on another DWI charge. He pleaded guilty to that charge as well on Monday.

Representatives from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) also attended the court hearing and urged people not to drink and drive, whether they’re operating a motor vehicle on a road or a boat on the water.

Kevin Comardelle will be sentenced in January 2023.

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