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The Marksville shooting: What happened

8 years 4 months 2 weeks ago Monday, November 09 2015 Nov 9, 2015 November 09, 2015 10:30 PM November 09, 2015 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - The state Attorney General announced it was handling the prosecution of two part time marshals, accused of murder following the death of a six-year-old in Avoyelles Parish last week.

Also Monday, a district judge issued a gag order for the case. Jeremy Mardis' family also buried the child in a private ceremony in Mississippi.

A week since the shooting, there are still many unanswered questions.

Here is a time line of the events:

Tuesday, November 3rd - Jeremy Mardis, 6, and his father are shot at what authorities said was the end of a police chase. Mardis was killed. The boy's father, Chris Few, was also shut but survived. Four officers working part time for the Ward 2 Marshal in Marksville were involved. Two opened fire. It was originally reported the officers were attempted to serve Few with a warrant when he sped off. Authorities added, the marshals shot Few's vehicle when he put it in reverse in an attempt to continue fleeing.

Wednesday, November 4th - Limited information is released about what happened the night before.

"Maybe this is a light for things being swept under the rug, you know, with the law around here," a person who lives on the street where the shooting happened said in a conversation with reporters about the shooting and allegations made toward a corrupt law enforcement agency.

By 10 p.m., the WBRZ Investigative Unit had uncovered concerns city leaders in Marksville had about how the Ward 2 Marshal runs the department. The city asked the Attorney General to render an opinion about the use of unmarked vehicles to write tickets inside city limits. The city was not sure the marshal had the power to write tickets.

Thursday, November 5th - In an afternoon news conference, State Police Col. Mike Edmonson vowed to get to the bottom of what happened. Visibly upset with the situation, he discussed how investigators would handle the case. State Police began investigating the shooting an hour after it happened, he said. He acknowledged Few did not appear to have a warrant - questioning the legality of the pursuit.

Friday, November 6th - A shrine grows at the scene of the shooting. Late that evening, State Police announced two arrests: part time marshals Derrick Stafford and Norris Greenhouse were booked with murder and attempted murder charges related to the shooting death of Mardis and the shooting and injury of his father.

"Nothing is more important than the integrity of this badge. Tonight, the badge has been tarnished by these two individuals," Edmonson said. "Jeremy Mardis... didn't deserve to die."

While he refused to talk specifics, Edmonson said body camera video recorded by a camera worn by one of the two officers not arrested contributed to the decision to arrest the others.

"It is the most disturbing thing I've seen. I'll leave it at that," he said.

Saturday and Sunday - National and international media outlets started discussing the shooting and investigation. There were reports of previous lawsuits being filed against the arrested officers.

Monday, November 9th - Bail is set at $1 million for marshals Derrick Stafford and Norris Greenhouse. They are moved to a more secure jail, better suited for separating the men from other inmates.

A lawyer representing Few, who was still in the hospital, said the body camera footage showed Few had his hands raised when the officers opened fire.

Tuesday, November 10th - Sources confirmed to WBRZ, the Greenhouse family was working to secure a $1 million property bond for his release.  Some of the property put up to get him out of jail is in East Baton Rouge Parish.  While the release was expected to happen Thursday, it did not because of a state law banning lawyers from posting bonds.  Greenhouse, Sr., is an attorney.

Wednesday, November 11th - Chris Few was released from the hospital.  Family members said he is staying with them. 

 

Thursday, November 12th - A vigil was held for Mardis.  It was attended by a few dozen people who released lanterns into the sky after dark. 

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Follow the publisher of this post on Twitter: @treyschmaltz

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