Jefferson County — A jury in Judge Raquel West’s court took just 15 minutes to convict a man of capital crimes for killing his pregnant girlfriend in Beaumont and burying her body in a shallow grave in Vinton, Louisiana.
Judge West sentenced 38-year-old Jonathan Paul Menard to life in prison without parole. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.
He killed Kayla Nicole Rice, 33, of Beaumont, on McFaddin Avenue in Beaumont. She has not been seen or heard from since late November 2020. Her family reported her missing in December. Rice’s body was found in a grave in Vinton, Louisiana, in February 2021.
When police filed the report, they immediately found her car. However, they stated that it had been physically altered. In November, Kayla was six months pregnant.
From the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office:
Jonathan Menard pleaded not guilty to killing his pregnant girlfriend, Kayla Nicole Rice, 33, of DeLeon, TX. Both were living in an apartment in Beaumont, TX in November 2020. Evidence showed that early one morning in late November, Menard asked his neighbor, David Maddox, for help. When Maddox went to the apartment, he discovered Kayla Rice’s body wrapped in a tarp and tied with wire at both ends. The body was loaded into a car and transported to a remote location off GED Road in Vinton, LA, where it was buried in a shallow grave. The body was not discovered until February 11, 2021. Investigations led to Menard immediately after the body was discovered. Phone records showed that Menard and Rice’s phones traveled together from Beaumont to Vinton, the area where the body was discovered, on November 30, 2020. Because Kayla was pregnant at the time of her murder, Menard was charged with killing both Kayla Rice and her unborn child, Kyan Rice, making this a capital crime. The state waived the death penalty in this case well before trial. The jury heard testimony that lasted from Tuesday through Thursday. They began deliberating the case Friday morning and returned after less than an hour with a verdict that found Jonathan Menard guilty of the capital crime. He was automatically sentenced to life in prison immediately afterward by Judge Raquel West at the TDCJ. Menard is not eligible for parole. The case was tried by Phillip Smith and Ashley Molfino.
Prosecutor Phillip Smith stated, “This was an extremely difficult case. The facts are graphic and the senseless manner in which she was killed and disposed of make this case a tragedy. Our sincere condolences go out to Kayla’s family. We are very grateful to the Beaumont Police Department and the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office for their work. Without them, we would not have been able to obtain justice for Kayla and Kyan.”
