BATON ROUGE — Opening statements began for the trial of Ryan Sharpe, the man accused of killing former BREC Commissioner Carroll Breeden in 2017.

Sharpe was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2024 after being convicted of the murder of Brad DeFranceschi in East Feliciana Parish that same year. He was also accused of second-degree murder for the death of Thomas Bass and the attempted murder of Buck Hornsby, both also in 2017.

The East Baton Rouge District Attorney's office hopes to convict Sharpe for the murder of Breeden, which occurred in East Baton Rouge, and is why the trial is being held at the 19th JDC.

Sharpe pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. This trial comes after two doctors deemed Sharpe mentally competent to stand trial in East Baton Rouge Parish back in May.

The prosecutors started by telling the story of when Breeden's widow, who will testify in the case, found her husband.

On September 19, 2017, Breeden was out clearing his yard. Prosecutors said his widow was inside when she heard two loud gunshots. She went outside and found him on the ground by the street with blood on his back.

Prosecutors also brought up the incidents with Bass, DeFranceschi and Hornsby, alleging that multiple of those incidents involved them being shot from a car.

Some have questioned the need for this case, considering that Sharpe is already serving a life sentence.

"Well, he can only serve only a certain number of life sentences, and he's already got a life sentence, so I don't necessarily see the rationale in trying this case a second time in another parish," Sharpe's attorney, Thomas Damico, told WBRZ.

District Attorney Hillar Moore also told WBRZ that the Breeden family deserves justice, rather than relying on another victim's case in another parish.

Damico told WBRZ that they hope to have the case tried and resolved this week.

"Then (we can) finally put an end to this whole procedure that's taken, gosh, I guess it's now 8 years," Damico said.