BATON ROUGE — A Baton Rouge woman pleaded guilty to manslaughter and hit-and-run charges after hitting and killing a 22-year-old with her car.

Ta'Quencya Harris, 35, agreed to a plea deal that has a 10-year sentencing cap and 10 years suspended on top of the judge's sentence, District Attorney Hillar Moore told WBRZ. The suspended sentence will run consecutive to the manslaughter sentence.

Harris was arrested after 22-year-old LaDerica Stewart was killed while leaving an after hours club on Plank Road in Baton Rouge, and initially entered a not guilty plea.

Stewart's family spoke outside the courthouse, saying that they disagreed with the plea deal.

"We strongly agree that 10 years was not enough, regardless of if she had 10 years probation after that 10 years sentence, because [Harris] already knows the system," Marci Ruiz, Stewart's stepmother said. "She's been arrested before on a second-degree murder charge, which was pleaded down to an assault charge."

Court records show that Harris was arrested for attempted second-degree murder and illegal use of a weapon in 2019. She was formally charged with a lesser charge of aggravated assault with a firearm and pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in 2021. She was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation. 

She was arrested again on April 7, 2025, for manslaughter, obstruction of justice and two counts of hit-and-run driving. She was later indicted on the same charges.

While on bond, she was arrested for allegedly punching a woman in the face. She was charged with second-degree battery, which was dismissed as part of the plea deal.