JACKSON, Miss.: Officials have not yet said who is responsible for the shot that killed a 3-month-old baby when his father died in a shootout with police on a highway last week in Mississippi.
Activists with Black Lives Matter Mississippi are calling for the release of police body camera footage of what happened May 3 near Biloxi. Investigators won’t say whether any officers were wearing body cameras at the time.
A group gathered Sunday by Interstate 10, near the site of the shooting, to pay tribute to the life of infant LaMello Parker and two people who were killed earlier May 3. Authorities said Christin Parker, 32, and her nephew Brandon Parker, 26, were killed by La’Mello’s father, Eric Derrell Smith, in a domestic dispute, leading to the police chase and standoff in which Smith and the baby were killed.
We want to have a coherent, truthful conversation about what happened and how this could have been avoided. Period, Anastassia Doctor, a Black Lives Mississippi board member and Army veteran, told The Associated Press Monday. If this was a white man with a white child, would they have done the same thing?
Smith, 30, was suspected of killing his ex-girlfriend, Christin, and her nephew at a home in Baker, Louisiana, on May 3. Smith then kidnapped La’Mello and left the scene, according to law enforcement.
In a Facebook post on May 3, the sheriff’s office from East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, alerted the public to be on the lookout for Smith.
Right now, our top priority is locating that child safely, Sheriff Sid Gautreaux said.
Before Smith and La’Mello were killed, Smith led police on a chase across state lines. The pursuit was joined by more than a dozen officers from the Mississippi Highway Patrol, Gulfport Police Department and the Harrison County Sheriffs Department.
A video taken by a bystander shows the final barrage of gunfire after more than a dozen law enforcement vehicles, blue lights flashing, pursued Smiths car.
An autopsy determined that LaMello Parker died of a single gunshot wound. The coroner of Harrison County, Mississippi Brian Switzer told The Associated Press last week that Biloxi police investigators would compare the bullet to the weapons that were fired at the scene to try to determine the source of the fatal shot.
Switzer declined to say what part of the babys body was shot. He said a pathologist will determine whether the fatal shot came from close range or a distance.
Biloxi police are investigating because none of that departments officers were involved. Biloxi Police Major Chris DeBack said Monday that he has no other details to release while the matter is still under investigation including whether any officers were wearing body cameras at the time of the incident.
As soon as the investigation is completed, all the information will be forwarded to the district attorneys office for further review, DeBack said.
In November, the Gulfport Police Chief Chris Ryle announced that the department would be implementing new bodycam technology.
Family and friends of Christin Parker said that Smith had a history of domestic violence, and that she feared for her and her children’s lives daily.
She got to a point where she just didnt know what to do,” friend Johnnie Williams told WAFB-TV. “A lot of people say, Get a restraining order, stuff like that. They know that dont stop them. That dont stop them. They know that. It doesnt stop them until they stop them. It doesnt stop,
Christin Parker leaves four children, including one who was home when the shooting occurred. Her family’s wish is that the loss will encourage more conversations about domestic violence, WAFB reported.
Get help now so this situation wont become your situation, Pastor Robert Scott, a family friend, told the television station. “Walmart lost a great worker. The community lost a sweet and loving young lady. The children … lost a parent that loved them dearly.
At the vigil Sunday, mourners displayed a teddy bear with La’Mello’s name on it, which they said will act as a symbol for Black Lives Matter Mississippi.
A lot of times Black victims are not humanized, Doctor said. We want to remember their names so they are not forgotten.
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Willingham is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
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