A Jefferson County grand jury has indicted James Joseph Levron for the Jan. 25 shooting death of Jose Pompas Leal.

According to an affidavit for his arrest, Levron, 25, of Port Arthur, and two friends had a confrontation with a man later identified as Leal at Lowe’s on Memorial Boulevard.

Levron had gone to Lowe’s to borrow his girlfriend’s car because his was not working. His friends noticed a vehicle they believed was occupied by a man who had burglarized Levron’s vehicle in Groves. When they went to confront the man, he fled and Levron gave chase.

According to Levron, they never stopped, and had Leal pulled over they were going to assault him. Levron pulled up alongside Leal’s white sedan along the highway and a friend in his front seat pulled out a handgun and attempted to fire a shot at a tire and missed. He fired second round, which went through the driver’s side window striking Leal. Levron claims he did not know his friend had a firearm. He then drove away and dropped the friends off at a local business, according to the document.

He reportedly told police he willingly chased Leal with the intent to assault him and that he was aware of the crash that occurred after the shooting at the intersection of Memorial Boulevard and 39^th Street.

Leal, the gunshot victim, 27, succumbed to his injuries and lost consciousness behind the wheel and continued into the intersection causing a five-vehicle crash.

An indictment is not a final conviction of guilt; it is only a ruling by the grand jury that allows the district attorney’s office to proceed with a criminal case.