Man pleads guilty in baseball bat attack

A 24-year-old Donaldsonville man pleaded guilty last week for his role in hitting a stabbing suspect with a baseball bat during a May incident in Morgan City.
Kentrell Francis Diggs, 24, of Donaldsonville, pleaded guilty Sept. 29 to the charge of conspiracy to commit second-degree battery in 16th Judicial District Court, St. Mary Parish Clerk of Court records stated.
Diggs had been charged by the district attorney with aggravated battery. At last week’s plea hearing, Judge Keith Comeaux suspended the imposition of the sentence and placed Diggs on probation for three years. Diggs has a restitution hearing set Dec. 12.
Diggs was one of four suspects arrested in the alleged incident.
At 7:05 p.m. May 22, Morgan City police responded to a complaint of a stabbing, which was reported in the area of Pecan Street. Police responded to Pecan Street in regard to a fight involving several people. Officers arrived to discover a male victim of an apparent stab wound along with another male victim, who had been struck by a blunt object, police said.
During the fight, Nicholas Wiggins, 26, of Morgan City, allegedly stabbed a man with a knife. Wiggins himself was struck with a bat by two other men involved in the incident. Wiggins then retreated to his vehicle and attempted to flee the area when he allegedly drove away in a reckless manner striking several vehicles, police said.
The stabbing victim sustained serious injuries that required surgery. Wiggins was treat-ed for moderate injuries and released from the hospital the day after the incident, police said.
Police determined that Wiggins and the stabbing victim had been involved in an altercation earlier in the day on May 22. Wiggins then went to the victim’s location on Pecan Street later that day and produced a knife, stabbing the victim, police said.
Investigators identified two other suspects, Joey Wiggins, 58, of Morgan City and Diggs as having struck Nicholas Wiggins with a base-ball bat during the en-counter. Joey Wiggins was also accused of damaging a vehicle with the bat.
A third suspect, Shane Scully, 27, of Morgan City, was identified by investigators after determining he allegedly made attempts to interfere with the investigation by concealing or destroying evidence in the crime, police said.
Nicholas Wiggins was arrested June 7 on warrants charging him with attempted second-degree murder and reckless operation of a motor vehicle with a crash.
On Aug. 29, a grand jury “pre-termitted,” or didn’t take action, against Nicholas Wiggins on the attempted second-degree murder charge, leaving open the possibility for him to be indicted at a later time if more evidence is brought forth, Assistant District Attorney Anthony Saleme said.
Joey Wiggins still faces charges of aggravated battery and simple criminal damage to property under $500 in the case, according to court records.
Scully was arrested June 5 on the charge of obstruction of justice. The district attorney’s office declined to prosecute Scully on the charge after the prosecutor “screening that case didn’t feel there was sufficient evidence to prosecute,” Saleme said.