Trevell Hills faces possible life sentence after conviction in armed standoff

Trevell Hills, a 27-year-old Covington man, was convicted on August 4 by a St. Tammany Parish jury on multiple firearm charges tied to a 2025 standoff with sheriff’s deputies outside a Ruby Street home. Prosecutors said Hills fired an illegally modified sawed-off shotgun toward deputies before barricading himself inside the residence. Judge Vincent J. Lobello set sentencing for August 26, and the district attorney’s office said Hills faces up to life imprisonment. ### Which charges did the jury convict Hills on? District Attorney J. Collin Sims said the jury found Hills guilty as charged of illegal use of a weapon while committing a crime of violence or drug offense, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and illegal carrying of weapons during a crime of violence. The conviction followed a trial in St. Tammany Parish before Lobello. (collinsimsda.org) The August 4 verdict exposed Hills to a sentence that can run as high as life in prison, according to the district attorney’s office. Prosecutors identified the case as one involving both weapons and drug evidence recovered after the standoff. ### What did prosecutors say happened on Ruby Street? (collinsimsda.org) September 25, 2025, is the date prosecutors gave for the confrontation at the Covington residence. Deputies with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office responded to a call for service and found Hills seated on the front porch, according to the district attorney’s office. (collinsimsda.org) Hills told deputies he was smoking “ice,” a reference to methamphetamine, before he produced the shotgun and fired a shot directly toward officers, prosecutors said. The district attorney’s office described the weapon as an illegally modified sawed-off shotgun. (collinsimsda.org) ### How did the standoff end? St. Tammany Parish sheriff’s deputies pulled back, established a perimeter and called in the agency’s SWAT team after the gunfire, according to prosecutors. The district attorney’s office said the scene then shifted into a standoff and negotiations. (collinsimsda.org) Following those negotiations, Hills surrendered without further physical harm to law enforcement officers, prosecutors said. A later search warrant led investigators to recover the modified shotgun, methamphetamine residue and drug paraphernalia from the home, according to the district attorney’s office. (collinsimsda.org) ### What did prosecutors tell jurors at trial? Assistant District Attorney Shelby Stoop told jurors in closing arguments that Hills “raised a shotgun, pointed it in the direction of the officers, and fired a shot,” according to the district attorney’s office. Stoop argued that “you don’t point a loaded firearm at someone without intent.” (collinsimsda.org) Assistant District Attorney Iain Dover told jurors in rebuttal that “the only way to offer respect for the job the officers did that day is to hold the defendant accountable and find him guilty as charged,” according to the same statement. Dover also said, “Intent is determined by our actions and the consequences of our actions. He absolutely intended to fire that gun.” (collinsimsda.org) ### What have officials said since the verdict? Collin Sims said after the verdict that “our law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every single day to protect our community.” Sims added that “we will not tolerate violence against our deputies, and this verdict ensures that Mr. Hills will be held fully accountable for putting our officers and neighbors in danger.” (collinsimsda.org) The public record available online does not include a response from Hills or a defense statement in the materials reviewed. News reports and the district attorney’s release focused on the prosecution’s account of the shooting, the standoff and the verdict. (collinsimsda.org) ### What happens on August 26? August 26, 2026, is the sentencing date set by Lobello in St. Tammany Parish court, according to the district attorney’s office. That hearing is the next formal step in the case and will determine how much prison time Hills receives on the convictions returned by the jury. (collinsimsda.org)