Members of three shattered families packed inside a mournful courtroom Wednesday and watched as a Baton Rouge judge handed down three life sentences to one of the gunmen who opened fire at a Memorial Day pool party, killing three people — including a 21-month-old girl who was caught in the crossfire.
Ladarius Coleman, 19, had been convicted Aug. 23 of three counts of second-degree murder in the May 31, 2021, triple homicide at the Fairway View Apartments in the 2200 block of College Drive. Describing the attack as “audacious and brazen,” District Judge Fred Crifasi imposed the mandatory life sentences for all three charges and ordered Coleman to serve the rest of his life behind bars.
Prosecutors convinced a jury that Coleman and his half-brother, David Gerrell Williams, 22, ambushed 16-year-old Dewayne Craig Dunn Jr., and his best friend Reginald Thomas Jr., 20, during a crowded poolside cookout at the apartment complex. Dunn and Thomas both died at the scene and Ja’Tyri Unique Brown, a toddler playing in the pool while her parents barbecued, was struck by a stray bullet. The girl later died at a hospital.
“This was in broad daylight,” Crifasi said of the shooting. “It was at an apartment complex pool, where others were gathered for the holiday. Just trying to enjoy the weather and a day off. A time to relax, grill some food and enjoy each other’s company.”
Loved ones sat together in the courtroom, many of them wearing matching T-shirts with portraits of the slain victims. They still grappled with the devastation of the fatal attack.
“It’s a pain that will never end,” Brown’s grandmother, Hope Provost, said as her husband held a framed photo of the toddler for Coleman to see. “Your soul is required in hell. Three and a half years, we’ve been coming to court. You have shown no remorse; you have shown no empathy for our family.”
Assistant District Attorney Morgan Johnson, who led the prosecution, noted that in the leadup to Coleman’s murder trial, the teen turned down three plea offers from the state that would have spared him a life sentence. She also said Coleman had expressed no signs of remorse. When probation agents conducting the presentencing investigation spoke to Coleman after he was found guilty, he simply told them “I’m not a rat” and walked out of the interview room, Johnson told the judge.
While second-degree murder convictions come with an automatic life sentence in Louisiana, state law allows convicted killers who were underage at the time of their offense to be considered for parole once they have spent at least 25 years behind bars. That leaves the possibility for Coleman, who was 15 when the shooting occurred, to be released on parole as early as the age of 40 if the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole does not deem him to be beyond rehabilitation.
Johnson stressed that Coleman should never be granted parole and should serve out the entirety of his sentence.
“We agree with all three victims’ families that life without parole is appropriate in this case, and we hope that the parole board will enforce that,” she said.
Dunn turned 16 three weeks before he was gunned down. He was a football player at Baker High and was an avid horse rider. Shameka Murray wept as she spoke of losing her youngest child.
“My sunshine will never play sports again,” she said. “He won’t be able to attend prom, ride horses, graduate high school or celebrate another birthday. My life and my family’s lives will never be the same.”
Thomas’ mother, Tiwana Moore Rayburn, said the despair to her family is irreparable and told the judge she remains heartbroken.
“The brutal and calculated way Junior was taken from us is something that I cannot wrap my mind around,” Rayburn said. “I live every day haunted by the thought of what Junior endured in his final moments. No mother should have to experience the pain of burying her child, especially when it’s caused by such senseless violence.”
Coleman gave a brief statement after the grieving relatives spoke.
“I am not the person that everybody’s making me out to be,” he said. “I would like to say that I’m sorry to the victims’ families for the loss of their loved ones.”
Judge Crifasi noted that the shooting took place on a national holiday for Americans to pay tribute to military servicemen and women that made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve the nation’s freedoms.
“But these three people had their freedom to exist taken from them. The families have had their freedom to foster and enjoy their relationships taken from them. And young Mr. Coleman, now, has forfeited his own freedom. Because of this absolutely senseless and horrific act.”
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