By: Eric Heisig
Staff Writer
Published: Monday, January 2, 2012 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 12:07 p.m.
RACELAND — A Thibodaux eighth-grader was killed late Monday night after being shot in the head following a verbal argument with six other people in Raceland, police said.
Jamonta Miles, 15, was pronounced dead at the scene, while another passenger, 17-year-old Ijah Baptiste, is being treated for a bullet wound in the left elbow at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center, authorities said.
Miles and Baptiste, also of Thibodaux, were in a GMC Yukon with five other male teens about 11:30 p.m. when they got into a verbal argument with a man at Market and Fifth streets, officials said.
After words were exchanged, the man, who is still unidentified, pulled out a gun and fired several shots at them, police said.
Nobody else was injured, police said. After the shots were fired, the group left the intersection, authorities said. The driver pulled over three-quarters of a mile away on La. 1 near St. Phillip Street after spotting a Lafourche sheriff's deputy's car.
The five others in the car have been interviewed, but no arrests have been made, said sheriff's spokesman Brennan Matherne. It has not been determined whether charges will be filed against the other occupants of the SUV, Matherne said, though their names are being withheld because they “are still victims.”
An autopsy will be performed on Miles Wednesday morning by the Jefferson Coroner's Office, said Lafourche Coroner's Office Chief Investigator Mark Goldman.
Miles was a student at West Thibodaux Middle School.
Trisha Adams, 23, said she was laying in bed when she heard five shots. She, along with her sister, later made their way to La. 1 and St. Phillip Street to find out what happened.“All I heard was ‘pow' and said ‘What was that?' ” Adams said.
Investigators were at Market and 5th streets and La. 1 and St. Phillip Street for several hours Monday night. The Raceland Volunteer Fire Department, Lafourche Coroner's Office and Acadian Ambulance assisted the Sheriff's Office.
As investigators worked, a crowd of Miles' family and friends gathered in a parking lot across the street. When the body was taken away by the Coroner's Office, loved ones moved closer to the street, crying and holding each other as they watched.
“I just talked to him this morning,” said his aunt, Wanda Hutchinson, explaining that he was going to come over Tuesday to fix a computer.
Those who knew Miles said word traveled fast, be it through phone calls or posts on Facebook.
“I had girls calling asking if it was true,” said his cousin, 17-year-old Brian Brown, explaining that people had read about it online less than an hour after it happened.
On Monday night, family said they didn't know what Miles was doing several miles from his home in the Midland community of Thibodaux.
“With the parents he has, had they known, they would have gotten him (in trouble),” said Miles' cousin, 28-year-old Tiffany Hutchinson.
This is the first homicide in Lafourche Parish in 2012.
Anyone with information can call Bayou Region Crime Stoppers at 1-800-743-7433.
Staff Writer Eric Heisig can be reached at 857-2202 or eric.heisig@dailycomet.com. Keep up-to-date with Lafourche crime news on Twitter @LafourcheCrime.
Staff Writer
Published: Monday, January 2, 2012 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 12:07 p.m.
RACELAND — A Thibodaux eighth-grader was killed late Monday night after being shot in the head following a verbal argument with six other people in Raceland, police said.
Jamonta Miles, 15, was pronounced dead at the scene, while another passenger, 17-year-old Ijah Baptiste, is being treated for a bullet wound in the left elbow at Thibodaux Regional Medical Center, authorities said.
Miles and Baptiste, also of Thibodaux, were in a GMC Yukon with five other male teens about 11:30 p.m. when they got into a verbal argument with a man at Market and Fifth streets, officials said.
After words were exchanged, the man, who is still unidentified, pulled out a gun and fired several shots at them, police said.
Nobody else was injured, police said. After the shots were fired, the group left the intersection, authorities said. The driver pulled over three-quarters of a mile away on La. 1 near St. Phillip Street after spotting a Lafourche sheriff's deputy's car.
The five others in the car have been interviewed, but no arrests have been made, said sheriff's spokesman Brennan Matherne. It has not been determined whether charges will be filed against the other occupants of the SUV, Matherne said, though their names are being withheld because they “are still victims.”
An autopsy will be performed on Miles Wednesday morning by the Jefferson Coroner's Office, said Lafourche Coroner's Office Chief Investigator Mark Goldman.
Miles was a student at West Thibodaux Middle School.
Trisha Adams, 23, said she was laying in bed when she heard five shots. She, along with her sister, later made their way to La. 1 and St. Phillip Street to find out what happened.“All I heard was ‘pow' and said ‘What was that?' ” Adams said.
Investigators were at Market and 5th streets and La. 1 and St. Phillip Street for several hours Monday night. The Raceland Volunteer Fire Department, Lafourche Coroner's Office and Acadian Ambulance assisted the Sheriff's Office.
As investigators worked, a crowd of Miles' family and friends gathered in a parking lot across the street. When the body was taken away by the Coroner's Office, loved ones moved closer to the street, crying and holding each other as they watched.
“I just talked to him this morning,” said his aunt, Wanda Hutchinson, explaining that he was going to come over Tuesday to fix a computer.
Those who knew Miles said word traveled fast, be it through phone calls or posts on Facebook.
“I had girls calling asking if it was true,” said his cousin, 17-year-old Brian Brown, explaining that people had read about it online less than an hour after it happened.
On Monday night, family said they didn't know what Miles was doing several miles from his home in the Midland community of Thibodaux.
“With the parents he has, had they known, they would have gotten him (in trouble),” said Miles' cousin, 28-year-old Tiffany Hutchinson.
This is the first homicide in Lafourche Parish in 2012.
Anyone with information can call Bayou Region Crime Stoppers at 1-800-743-7433.
Staff Writer Eric Heisig can be reached at 857-2202 or eric.heisig@dailycomet.com. Keep up-to-date with Lafourche crime news on Twitter @LafourcheCrime.
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