Louisiana governor says judges are too lenient after 17-year-old with long record charged with murder
BATON ROUGE - Accused Mall of Louisiana shooter, Markel Lee, made his first court appearance downtown at the 19th JDC, after police say he killed a teenager and shot five others on Thursday.
During the hearing, Lee was denied bond for the killing of seventeen-year-old Martha Odom, who was days from graduating.
At 17 years old, the suspect in the Mall of Louisiana mass shooting was described by officials as having "an extensive criminal history", and on Friday, Governor Jeff Landry blamed the judicial system for allowing repeat offenders off the hook and out of custody.
On Friday, city, parish and state officials announced the first arrest in the mall shooting. There, Landry touted SB 123 by State Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, a piece of legislation that, with voter approval, would allow lawmakers to force out judges for malfeasance, incompetence or gross misconduct.
"I'm done with them," Landry said Friday. "I don't care how old they are."
Last week, five others were detained and later released, but authorities said they remain "persons of interest."
"The arrest of that young man is their parents' failure first," Landry said. He said that anyone who took part in Thursday's mayhem deserved to serve life terms. "We got 18,000 acres at Angola. If it's up to me, I'd send them all there for the rest of their lives."
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If the bill passes, then voters would decide next April whether to make the change official.