Shelly Street shooting victim dies
by naomi martin
Advocate staff writer
August 23, 2012
A fistfight between two sisters over clothes took a tragic turn Tuesday night when a bystander was shot in the face, police said.
The victim, D’Andre Robertson, 22, died late Wednesday, police spokesman Cpl. Tommy Stubbs said.
The older sister involved in the fight had brought Robertson to the house at 4766 Shelley St. at about 10:50 p.m. because she suspected that her younger sister had broken into her home and stolen clothing, Tuesday, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
“She probably wanted him as backup,” said the victim’s live-in girlfriend, Phylidessia Morrison, who identified herself as a cousin of the sisters who were fighting.
Morrison said Robertson only agreed to “go for a ride” with her partner and was unaware of the imminent fight.
As soon as the car pulled up to the house, the sisters immediately started hitting each other “without any preliminary actions,” the affidavit says.
At some point during the fight, Robertson got out of the car and was standing in the street, the affidavit says.
The affidavit says the younger sister’s boyfriend, Lee Michael Williams, 24, grabbed a handgun and fired several shots at Robertson, striking him once in the face.
As Robertson collapsed in the street, the sisters stopped fighting, the affidavit says.
Robertson was transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
He was taken off life support late Wednesday, police said.
Williams was arrested and booked into Parish Prison on counts of second degree murder and illegal use of a weapon.
Robertson’s family gathered to mourn him Thursday at his grandmother’s home at 2441 70th Ave.
“You feel numb,” said his grandmother, Marie H. Robertson, adding she has not slept since Tuesday night. “I’m going to miss him.”
His girlfriend, Morrison, said she didn’t know if she could ever forgive her feuding cousins.
“They’ve been going through this for a year now,” Morrison said.
“They’ve always got something going on and in turn you’re hurting my household. You put somebody’s child in danger. You hurt his family.”
Robertson’s family remembered him as an adventurous spirit, who loved to hunt, fish and ride horses.
His uncle, Michael Robertson, said his nephew had tried to avoid falling victim to Baton Rouge’s street violence by staying away from bars, clubs, criminals and “beefs.”
“If D’Andre was a child prone to trouble, I could halfway understand because you see what goes on in Baton Rouge,” he said. “But D’Andre didn’t invite this on himself. He was just innocently shot.”