MARKSVILLE , La., Nov. 9 (UPI) — The funeral for a 6-year-old boy shot to death by police as they pursued his father in a car chase, is scheduled to be held Monday in Hattiesburg, Miss.
Jeremy Mardis died when Marksville, La., city marshals fired on the vehicle, driven by his father, Christopher Few, 25.
The boy, who was sitting in the front seat, died of multiple gunshot wounds. Few was also shot and hospitalized in serious condition.
The Marksville City Marshal’s office said Few was backing his vehicle toward the marshals, who felt in danger and opened fire. Louisiana State Police, though, say there has been no evidence to support the marshall’s office’s report.
Avoyelles Parish, La., officials reported the marshals were attempting to serve a warrant, but state police say they could not find any outstanding warrants for Few.
The boy was a first-grader in Effie, La., a town north of Marksville, and lived with his father and grandmother, his school principal said.
Police officers Derrick Stafford, 32, and Norris Greenhouse Jr., 23, each face charges of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder for the shooting. Two other Marksville officers, Lt. Jason Brouillette and Sgt. Kenneth Parnell, were also at the scene of the shooting but have not been charged.
Stafford, Brouillette and Parnell are full-time Marksville police officers. Greenhouse is a reserve Marksville officer and a deputy marshal with the Alexandria City, La., Marshal’s Office. All have been placed on administrative leave.
Brouillette was named a defendant in a federal lawsuit in July. A prison inmate, Dontrale Demarko Phillips, said he was arrested without warrant or probable cause and denied his rights in a trial for armed robbery and illegal possession of a firearm. His $7 million claim was dismissed in September.
