The 1990 murder of little Averie Grace Evans at the Steel Magnolia House Natchitoches November 5th On this day in 1990…. Eleven year old Averie Grace Evans was pedaling her bike from door to door in East Natchitoches, selling candy for her school orchestra fundraiser. It was late evening; darkness would soon be approaching, so Averie dressed in black jeans, a black sweater and a blue denim vest made one last stop at a little wood frame house on the corner of East 5th and Henry Street. The dark haired Averie was a straight-A student, she played the violin, was outgoing and loved her community and family. She was beautiful, smart and had a very bright future full of dreams and hopes. As Averie dismounted her bike and walked to the rear door, she knew this house well, for just a year earlier this house had been blocked off and used in the movie “Steel Magnolia.” The house was the location of Truvy’s Beauty Spot, where multiple scenes in the movie were filmed. She remembered well those days when the streets were closed off and people were crowded into her neighborhood, hoping to get a glance at all the famous movie stars. But now, over a year later, it was all back to normal and she hoped whoever lived here now, would quickly sign up for some of her candy and she would be home before her mother became worried. She knocked on the door and the home owner soon appeared. While Averie made her sales pitch, the man looked nervously down the driveway, then to the street and back towards his garage, before returning his gaze back to the little girl. Averie’s body has never been found. Months later her bike was pulled from nearby Sibley Lake. The homeowner, 41 year old Phillip Deselle was eventually charged with her murder. In exchange for admitting to killing Averie, a plea agreement was made in which Deselle pleaded guilty to manslaughter and kidnapping. He received the maximum 40 years from manslaughter plus 10 years for kidnapping. He told investigators that he placed little Averie’s body into a dumpster shortly after killing her. So now when one takes the Steel Magnolia tours, whether by the little trolley or by a horse drawn carriage, most all the sites in the movie will be included and discussed, all but one. The house on Henry Street, that once became Turvy’s hair salon, where the character Truvy Jones was brought to life by actress Dolly Parton, is not normally pointed out to visitors. Now, the house sits quietly in the shade of its oak trees with no hint of its colorful and yet sinister past. The house has reportedly sold three times in the last 25 years since the murder took place; it has been remodeled inside and out in recent years. Although no one knows for sure except the killer, investigators believe that Averie died either by the back door of the house, right between the house and the garage or inside the garage itself. This same garage, that was later spray painted on more than one occasion with “Child Killer”, has since been torn down and replaced with a new one. As one blogger named Sara stated…”A terrible thing happened at the house on a quiet street corner in Natchitoches, but it doesn’t mean the house is bad. Or that we can’t remember the house or the victim with joy and fondness. I guess it’s kind of like the overall message in the Steel Magnolia movie – bad things do happen in life, yes, we can’t control that, but we can move forward with strength, grace, and dignity. So that’s what I like to think when I look at Truvy’s house – strength, grace, dignity, sadness – yes, but as M’Lynn says at the end of the movie,..life goes on…” ___________________________ This story was written a few months ago by by one of the MPD officers and we thought we would share it now because Averies family members have just been notified that her killer, Phillip Deselle, is scheduled to be released back into society in a couple of weeks.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 21:32:10 +0000