Louisiana man arrested for allegedly killing four people
Published 8:33 am Tuesday, November 28, 2017
CLINTON (AP) — A man suspected of fatally shooting three people at a Louisiana home and a fourth person at a nearby gas station was arrested Monday in Alabama, authorities said.
Taurus Ike Hamilton, 36, of Zachary, was arrested in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on murder charges following a pair of deadly shootings that occurred north of Baton Rouge on Sunday, East Feliciana Parish Sheriff Jeff Travis said at a news conference.
Authorities believe Hamilton broke into a home in Slaughter and fatally shot a woman, her boyfriend and the boyfriend’s father. A witness told investigators that Hamilton and the slain woman had a child together, according to a police report.
Hamilton also is suspected of fatally shooting a 24-year-old man outside a gas station in Zachary during a fight Sunday, according to the city’s police chief.
The two shootings were reported to authorities within about 30 minutes of each other. Travis said investigators were trying to determine which shooting occurred first.
Hamilton faces three counts of first-degree murder for the killings at the home and one count of second-degree murder for the shooting outside the gas station.
Zachary Police Chief David McDavid said Hamilton’s 57-year-old mother, Belinda Hamilton Folse, also was arrested Monday in Alabama on a charge of being an accessory after the fact to second-degree murder. McDavid said investigators believe Hamilton’s mother “was involved in taking him away from this area.”
Travis identified the victims of the shooting at the home as Laquan Whitfield; her boyfriend, Gerald Tate; and Tate’s father, Gerald Parker.
A witness inside the home said she heard a gunshot in the front room where Parker was killed before she saw Hamilton run down a hallway and into a bedroom where Whitfield and Tate were shot and killed, according to the police report.
Earlier Sunday, a female’s body was found off a road in another part of East Feliciana Parish. However, Travis said there was no evidence linking the body’s discovery to the two shootings.