The pain remains for Rhonda Johnson – it always will.
But almost three years after losing her son to an act of senseless violence, she says she finally has the justice she’s sought for him and his memory.
On Feb. 6, Jacobi Cage was found guilty of the second-degree murder by a St. John the Baptist Parish jury, the result of the nearly three-year case surrounding the LaPlace murder of 23-year-old Jaece Stroud of Norco. Cage will be sentenced next month. The mandatory sentence for second-degree murder in Louisiana is life in prison without parole.
Johnson, a bus driver for St. Charles Parish Public Schools, said the verdict was “a long time coming.”
“I have a lot of emotions about it … I’m just happy to know the truth has been told,” Johnson said. “The jury heard it exactly how things happened. I’m glad he’s behind bars … you’ve got to pay for this. It’s got to be done.”
When Johnson went to court to hear the verdict, she admitted she had anxiety about it. But after her arrival, she felt peace about her and what was to come.
“I was kind of leery at first when I walked into the courtroom. But I sat down and thought, ‘God doesn’t make mistakes. And it’s time for (Cage) to pay for what he did,’” Johnson said. “He showed no remorse. None. No kind of emotion, just thinking he’s about to go home to his family. And no, you’re not. That’s not gonna happen, not today. And he didn’t.”
For Johnson and her family, it’s the latest chapter in a nightmare that began on April 15, 2022.
That day, Stroud and a friend left Stroud’s home to attend a party in LaPlace. At approximately 10:15 that night, police arrived at the party, responding to a report of a shooting. Stroud was shot multiple times during an altercation with another man, later identified as Cage, at the party. He was declared dead at the scene.
Cage was a friend and former football teammate of Stroud at Destrehan High School.
In the months following the shooting, Johnson and others created the Justice for Jaece Facebook group to keep family, friends and community members aware of case proceedings, determined to not let Stroud’s memory fade and to keep attention on the need for justice to be served.
“Everyone has to be held accountable for their actions,” Johnson said. “I’d see (Cage) out on the street, in the community, and think ‘This can’t be real life.’ You’ve killed somebody and you’re just out, living life. And my child is gone.”
She often wondered if something would ever ultimately be done.
“It’s been extremely difficult. Every time I went to court, it felt like another slap in the face. ‘You’re just going to let this go?’ Like my child is nothing.
“But in the end, we got that guilty verdict – and that’s all that matters.”
Stroud’s aunt, Phadria Taylor, said the jury took a little over an hour to come back with a guilty verdict.
“I literally saw a weight lift off my sister,” said Taylor. “This has been agonizing. All this time, he’s been walking free, living his life, and we’ve been agonizing over this thing. I cried tears of joy. I have not dropped a tear in front of my sister since this happened. I knew I had to be strong for her. But in that courtroom I couldn’t help it.”
On the Justice for Jaece Facebook page, Taylor had consistently ended posts with “Justice for Jaece will prevail.” After the verdict, she was finally able to amend it.
“I said ‘Justice for Jaece has prevailed,'” said Taylor.
“We can move past the court stage. We got our guilty verdict. We can move on to the next stage of grieving.”
Stroud was known as a leader among his peers. And his name was well known to prep football fans, a standout producer at defensive end for Destrehan, an All-District performer and All-State honorable mention selection. He is a member of the DHS graduating class of 2017.
Following his death, Johnson learned more about her son, the good deeds he did and the people whose lives he touched.
“There was the grandmother of a boy who no longer lives around here, and she said Jaece would come check up on her to make sure she had gotten to the store, things like that,” Johnson said. “Just little things like that, so many things people tell me to say Jaece touched their lives. It had me in awe, the things I didn’t know about my child. I know what he did for myself and his brother. He was a protector and he was always one call away.”
As for any mother who loses a child, Johnson has had to push through significant grief and pain. As to how she does that, she said it’s a day-by-day process.
“By the grace of God,” Johnson said. “And a lot of prayer. It’s all I can do. It’s a struggle every day.”
