BATON ROUGE - A beloved member of the Baton Rouge Police Department passed away due to complications associated with COVID-19 over the weekend.

Officials say Sgt. Charles Dotson succumbed to the illness on the weekend of Jan. 23, 2021.

C. Denise Marcelle, a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 61, was among the many who took to social media to offer condolences to Sgt. Dotson's family.

Marcelle referred to Dotson as "a stellar law enforcement officer and a true community leader." 

She urged locals to keep his family in mind with the words, "Let’s continue to pray for his wife, family and the entire BRPD family and remember that this virus has no respect of person, party, age or gender."

Dotson, a native of New Roads, who was raised in Maringouin graduated from Shady Grove High School and went on to join the United States Marine Corps where he served for 27 years. He retired at the rank of First Sergeant and went on to serve as a member of law enforcement in Iberville Parish, where he worked as a Deputy.

After this, he joined the Baton Rouge Police Department in 1999. Upon graduation from the Police Academy, Charles spent six years in Uniform Patrol before becoming a Detective in Major Assaults. In 2017 Charles was promoted to Sergeant and is currently assigned to the Violent Crimes Unit at Louisiana State Police Headquarters.

Many agree that his death, a direct result of the novel coronavirus pandemic, will leave a gaping hole in the south Louisiana community.

As of Monday (Jan. 25), the deadly virus has taken the lives of 8,565 Louisianians.