Orleans Parish inmate dies from illness, two months before twice-delayed murder trial

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - An Orleans Parish inmate died Saturday (Sept. 28), less than two months before she was scheduled to stand trial for the murder of a woman in Algiers, authorities said.

Jodi Sonnier, who would have turned 50 this Friday, died at University Medical Center, where she was in hospice care for what the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office described as "an ongoing terminal illness."

No other details of Sonnier's death were provided, but the OPSO said the accused murderer from Belle Chasse was transferred from the Orleans Justice Center jail to the hospital on Sept. 2. The OPSO said it had approved a visitation from Sonnier's immediate family last Wednesday.

Sonnier was arrested in June 2022, after New Orleans police linked her to the fatal shooting of 41-year-old Alicia Bozeman two months earlier. Bozeman was found dead from a single gunshot to the head in the bedroom of her apartment in the 2200 block of Cobblestone Lane in Algiers on April 8, 2022, according to court documents.

Investigators wrote that a witness identified Sonnier as the woman who visited and argued with Bozeman around 1 p.m., then drove away after shooting her.

Sonnier was arrested on June 16, 2022, and remained in custody until her death. She was scheduled to stand trial Nov. 18 on charges of second-degree murder, obstruction of justice and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Court records show two earlier trial dates - in May 2023 and September 2023 - were postponed and rescheduled for "medical reasons." Sonnier made her last court appearance for a hearing on June 14.