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Unrepentant child killer to be freed next week

A self-confessed child killer will walk out of state prison Jan. 22, and his victim's family can do nothing about it.
Phillip DeSelle was 41 when he was arrested for Averie Evans' death. Investigators were able to connect him to an anonymous letter.

NATCHITOCHES, La. — A self-confessed child killer will walk out of state prison Jan. 22, and his victim's family can do nothing about it.

Phillip DeSelle has served the required percentage of his sentence for killing Averie Grace Evans, an 11-year-old student he snatched while she went door to door in her neighborhood here selling candy for a school fundraiser.

Averie was reported missing Nov. 5, 1990. Her family agonized for 12 weeks until law enforcement investigators had information to arrest DeSelle in January 1991.

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"He's an evil man. He never showed any remorse or regret," said Averie's aunt, Erin Keyser, who created a Facebook page, Justice for Averie on Friday just days after being notified of DeSelle's release. "Our only recourse is to warn people."

Keyser made sure close family members were informed before making the public aware that DeSelle soon will be a free man.

"The main thing is to protect the children, that no family will have to go through this devastation," Keyser said.

Because she was registered in the system as a victim, Keyser was notified by the Louisiana Department of Corrections.

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He'll be on supervised parole through July 30, 2040, according to Pam Laborde, the department's communications director.

His early release from a state prison in Homer, La., after 24 years of a 40-year sentence happened because the law allows it, Laborde said in an email.

Qualifying offenders have the ability to reduce their sentences by earning so-called 'good time' credits in exchange for good behavior and participation in self-improvement programs. The Legislature changed the law in 1997, requiring violent offenders to serve 85% of their sentence. DeSelle was sentenced under the old law.

"At the time, we thought he would be in his 80s or 90 when he got out. You get some sense of peace with that," Keyser said.

DeSelle is 65, according to Department of Corrections records.

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He was 41 when he was arrested for Averie's murder. Investigators were able to connect him to an anonymous letter mailed from Many, La., that said Averie "is with God."

He ultimately confessed in a written statement required in a plea agreement with the Natchitoches Parish District Attorney's office. He told investigators he put Averie's bicycle in Sibley Lake in this city that had 17,000 residents in 1990 and her body in a Natchitoches dumpster.

Natchitoches is about 220 miles northwest of New Orleans.

At the time of Averie's disappearance, the city transported its garbage to a landfill about 70 miles away in DeSoto Parish. The FBI joined law enforcement officers from multiple agencies in weeks of searching through a mountain of trash for any signs of the child's remains.

Nothing was found.

Without her body, the district attorney's office let DeSelle plead to manslaughter and kidnapping. He was sentenced to 40 years and 10 years, respectively. The sentences ran concurrently.

Years later, the case was reopened and the driveway of the home where DeSelle lived was dug up to see if her body was there. Again, nothing.

DeSelle was eligible for a parole hearing in 2007. Keyser and other family members rallied the public through an online petition and presented it to the board, which denied his request.

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During that hearing, in which Keyser participated as family spokeswoman, DeSelle was asked why he killed Averie. He responded he was having a bad day and "just snapped."

After Averie's murder, the Natchitoches Parish School Board changed its school fundraising, stopping door-to-door sales. It helped for a while but the change was not long lasting, Keyser said.

A nationwide movement to do the same faltered about four years later.

Averie's two siblings, an older sister and younger sister, "never really recovered" from her death, Keyser said.

"They were very close," Keyser said.

The sisters and their mother — none of whom remain in Natchitoches — plan to be together on the day Averie's killer goes free.

"They want to be together," Keyser said. "They are very tearful, very disappointed."

Vickie Welborn also reports for The (Shreveport, La.) Times.

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