3 juveniles face charges in Sunday night killing in Clayton

Published 2:57 pm Thursday, July 16, 2020

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CLAYTON — Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies are investigating a Sunday night shooting that killed a Ferriday teenager as he drove along U.S. 425 in Clayton.

Clayton Police Chief Bobby Madison said Reondre Griggs, a juvenile from Ferriday, was pronounced dead at the scene after the car he was driving left the highway and flipped into a bean field at approximately 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

Three other juvenile passengers in the vehicle were treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries and released, Madison said.

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Madison said the Ferriday teenagers were visiting Clayton.

“An argument ensued in Clayton in the Margaret Circle area while they were visiting friends and to keep the confrontation down, Reondre and the other gentlemen left to go back to Ferriday,” Madison said. “As they were leaving and going to Ferriday, the other three juveniles proceeded behind them and ended up going across the street and shooting at them as they passed by. One of the bullets struck Mr. Griggs and this caused them to flip into a bean field.”

Madison said Griggs died of the gunshot wound, and it is being investigated as a homicide by the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office.

One of the juveniles in the car from which the shots were fired is charged with second-degree murder and two other juveniles who were in the car with him face accessory to second-degree murder charges, Madison said.

All three of the suspects are being held in the Concordia Parish jail and their names withheld because they are juveniles.

Capt. John E. Blunschi IV of the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office said the sheriff’s dispatch received approximately three calls about the car accident Sunday night and then received a call about shots fired in the area.

Deputies arrived on the scene and assisted Madison on the initial investigation and now the sheriff’s office is investigating.

“The investigation is still ongoing,” Blunschi said.

Madison asked that parents pay attention to what their children are doing.

“We need the parents to get more involved with the kids to help the sheriff’s office and the police department out,” Madison said. “If you see a child with a gun, report it.”