Thread: Two Louisiana cops charged with murder in 6-year-old boy’s shooting death; officer co

Two Louisiana cops charged with murder in 6-year-old boy’s shooting death; officer comes forward with ‘disturbing’ video

BY MELISSA CHAN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Saturday,
November 7, 2015, 2:04 PM

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Chris Few and his son as Jeremy Mardis, a first-grader at a nearby elementary school were shot about 9:30 p.m.


Two Louisiana cops have been charged with murder after they allegedly gunned down an autistic 6-year-old boy and seriously wounded his father earlier this week, authorities said.

Shocking body camera footage captured by one of the four officers involved in the tragic Tuesday confrontation led to the arrests of 23-year-old Norris Greenhouse Jr. and 32-year-old Derrick Stafford, it was revealed Saturday.

"That video was incredible," Col. Mike Edmonson told CBS News. "I mean, as a father, much less head of the state police, I looked at that tape, I said this is incredibly disturbing."

The footage purportedly shows the pair of officers firing 18 shots into a vehicle, riddling little Jeremy Mardis’s body with bullets as he was helplessly strapped into the front seat.

“He didn’t deserve to die like that,” Edmonson said.

The boy was killed after being shot five times in the head and chest, the Avoyelles Parish coroner said.

His dad Chris Few was left with bullet fragments lodged into his brain and lung, according to Few’s stepfather Morris German, 57.

It’s still unclear how the fatal shooting in the central Louisiana town of Marksville unfolded.




LOUISIANA STATE POLICE
LOUISIANA STATE POLICE

The video has not yet been released as authorities continue to pore over evidence, 911 calls and witness interviews.

It was recovered from one of the officers at the scene who told investigators Few was not acting in a threatening manner toward police, according to CBS.

Few was unarmed and investigators found no gun in his vehicle, authorities said.

The two officers were charged with second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. They were both working secondary jobs in Marksville as marshals when the shooting happened, Edmonson said.

Neither officer have spoken up about why they were pursuing Few or if they knew him before the traffic stop, a law enforcement source told CBS.

German said Few was a loving father and that his only child "was his whole life."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...icle-1.2426595

Cops who 'murdered' a six-year-old boy were moonlighting for maverick local force run by a school BUS DRIVER - and officers refuse to say why they chased unarmed dad and killed his son

• Jeremy Mardis, six, was shot dead by state marshals on Tuesday night
• Autistic boy was in the passenger seat of his father Chris Few's vehicle
• Lt. Derrick Stafford, 32, and Norris Greenhouse Jr., moonlighting as marshals who serve warrants, carry firearms and have police powers
• 'That little boy was buckled in the front seat of that vehicle and that is how he died,' Col. Mike Edmonson said. 'He didn't deserve to die like that'
• Few is heavily sedated, unable to talk and has bullet fragments lodged in his brain and lung

By ALEXANDRA KLAUSNER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and OLLIE GILLMAN and BELINDA ROBINSON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 00:58 EST, 7 November 2015 | UPDATED: 15:30 EST, 7 November 2015


Two Louisiana police officers charged with murder after shooting dead a six-year-old autistic boy were moonlighting for a controversial local marshal agency, it has emerged.

Lt. Derrick Stafford, 32, and Norris Greenhouse Jr., 23, a reserve officer, were arrested Friday night by the Louisiana State Police after the shooting death of Jeremy Mardis and the wounding of his unarmed father, Chris Few, in the central Louisiana town of Marksville on Tuesday.

It has since been revealed, the pair - along with another officer at the scene - were moonlighting as marshals who work for the city courts and serve warrants, carry firearms and have police powers.

The local agency is run by school bus driver city marshal Floyd Voinche.

Mayor John Lemoine, says Voinche, who has served as marshal for the past 12 years and was recently re-elected unopposed, has recently begun overstepping his authority.

Scroll down for video



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Charged in child's death: Norris Greenhouse Jr., 23, a reserve officer, and Lt. Derrick Stafford, 32, were arrested Friday night by the Louisiana State Police



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Louisiana State Policecharged the city marshals that killed six-year-old autistic boy Jeremy Mardis (pictured) and critically injured his father Chris Few with second-degree murder

The Advocate reports Voinche lacks basic law enforcement certification.

Lemoine told the newspaper that Voinche has been obtaining squad cars to issue tickets which is not a role they would normally undertake so he contacted the Attorney General’s Office - he is awaiting a response.

'I don't know why he felt the need to start patrolling in city limits,' Lemoine said to the Guardian. 'It makes no sense to me.'
Jeremy Mardis, a first-grader from the town of Effie, was shot five times in the head and torso when deputy marshals opened fire on his father's fleeing car.

Coroner Dr L. J. Mayeux said it was likely that Jeremy was caught 'in the line of fire' as the marshals shot at the driver's side, with the boy on the passenger's side of the car.

It's still unclear what led police to pursue Few and what triggered the shooting.

Col. Mike Edmonson said that there was no weapon found in the SUV or any indication that shots were fired from that vehicle.



The local agency is run by school bus driver city marshal, Floyd Voinche

The parish coroner said earlier this week that the officers were serving a warrant on Few when he fled, but Edmonson later said he had no information about a warrant.

Records in both Marksville city court and the area district court show several traffic violations and a recent DWI conviction but no outstanding warrants or ongoing criminal cases, reports the The Advocate.

Edmonson said the Greenhouse and Stafford were booked on charges of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder.

In the late night press conference he said: 'Let's make tonight about Jeremy Mardis.

'That little boy was buckled in the front seat of that vehicle and that is how he died. He didn't deserve to die like that.'
Speaking of the body camera footage that was recovered from the officers, he said: 'It is the most disturbing thing I've seen, and I will leave it at that.'

'The initial statement to my investigators was that the vehicle was backing up, they feared for their lives and they started firing,' Edmonson told CBS News.

'I think the longer it takes for these officers to come forward and give us information, it's more concerning,' Edmonson told CBS News Friday morning.








Chris Few and his son Jeremy Mardis were shot on Tuesday night in Marksville by the cops who were believed to be trying to serve the driver a warrant



Few's fiancee Megan Dixon (pictured) said: 'No, he didn't have a gun because I'm the reason why this all started. And I know what happened'



Few's fiancee Megan Dixon said that earlier in the evening she had argued with him at TJ's pool hall (pictured) and she left

Two other officers, Lt. Jason Brouillette and Sgt. Kenneth Parnell, were involved in the incident.

When Edmonson was asked whether he anticipated any more arrests, he said: 'We'll see where it takes us.'

It has since emerged that in October, 2011, Lt. Derrick Stafford was indicted by a Rapides Parish grand jury on two counts of aggravated rape, reports KATC - the station says it is waiting for records to see exactly how it was resolved.

The station also reported he has five pending civil lawsuits involving him in Avoyelles Parish and Norris Greenhouse Jr. was also named in several of the suits.

Few's fiancee Megan Dixon told the Guardian that earlier in the evening she had argued with him at TJ's pool hall and she left.

Few went to pick up his son who had been at a relative's house.

A short while later, Few pulled up next to Dixon at a stop light and asked her to come home with him.

She said she declined because she was 'stubborn.'



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The coroner said Few, left, reached a dead end and was backing into the marshals when they fired and the boy, right, was 'caught in the line of fire' and killed

She said as she pulled away she saw two marshals' cars approaching from behind with their lights flashing.

Megan said she saw Few was pointing at his son's head, showing that he was in the car and he wasn't sure what to do.

She said her fiance was not comfortable because he had previously had a conflict with one of the marshals. She did not identify which marshal.

'No, he didn't have a gun because I'm the reason why this all started,' she said reports Towntalk.
'And I know what happened.'

Few's 57-year-old stepfather, Morris German, has accused the marshals of indiscriminately opening fire on the vehicle.

German said Few was heavily sedated, unable to talk and has bullet fragments lodged in his brain and lung.

He described Few as a loving father and added the man's son 'was his whole life.'



Investigators said that the marshals were shooting into the driver side, and the six-year-old, pictured, was on the passenger side



Orange paint marking the spot where the 6-year-old boy was shot and killed Tuesday night by Ward 2 city marshals in Marksville

German added that the 6-year-old had been diagnosed with autism, describing him as a delightful child who 'loved everything, everybody.' German said the boy had no siblings and the family had recently moved to Marksville from Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

'I know a 6-year-old should not have been shot,' German said.

On Wednesday Blaine Dauzat, the Avoyelles superintendent of schools, said Mardis moved to the school district from Mississippi at the end of his kindergarten year last April.

'We are definitely all shaken up,' he said. 'It's been a tough day at work for all of us.'

Grief counselors were sent to Mardis' school, the Lafargue Elementary School in Effie, a community north of Marksville. Mr Dauzat said Mardis had no siblings in the school system.

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