The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s announced an arrest today in connection with a Christmas night murder in Madisonville.
Sheriffs's deputies arrested 57-year-old Harry Cleland on manslaughter charges in the death of 21-year-old Christopher Taylor.
At approximately 7:45 p.m. Wednesday (December 25), STPSO deputies were dispatched to a residence in the 700 block of Highway 1085 in the Madisonville area in reference to an altercation that occurred between two individuals, which resulted in the death of one of those individuals.
The initial investigation into the incident revealed that Cleland and the deceased were involved in a romantic relationship and had been fighting. An altercation escalated and at some point Cleland armed himself with a gun and the deceased armed himself with a machete.
Cleland fired upon the victim, striking the him multiple times before calling 911.
The investigation is ongoing, and no additional information is available at this time.
