BRPD: Man found shot to death in driveway
19-year-old died on mother’s driveway
A 19-year-old Baton Rouge man was found shot to death early Tuesday in the driveway of his mother’s Washington Avenue home, police said.
Police found Demarcus Thomas, 19, 5262 Washington Ave., at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, police spokesman Cpl. L’Jean McKneely said in a news release.
The motive for this incident is unknown, McKneely said.
Alean Thomas, Demarcus Thomas’ mother, said her son used to live with her at her Washington Avenue home but moved about three weeks ago to live with a friend. She was calm Tuesday afternoon as she spoke about her son.
“I wasn’t OK earlier,” she said.
Thomas said her son visited her at 8 p.m. Monday.
She said she heard three gunshots at 10:30 p.m., shortly after her son walked out the door to visit his 10-month-old son, Demarcus Thomas Jr., and the infant’s mother.
Thomas said she did not walk outside after hearing the gunshots because she was scared about her own safety.
She said she did not find out about her son’s death until hours later.
“The police just said, ‘You have a young man dead in your driveway,’ ” she said.
Thomas said her son was an easygoing person who enjoyed working. She said he had been working at a tire shop on Greenwell Springs Road for the past 10 years.
“He wasn’t a wild person, and the neighbors loved him,” she said.
Alean Thomas, who has lived on Washington Avenue for 15 years, said her neighborhood has historically been quiet until new neighbors moved in recently.
“These people shoot on this street every day,” she said.
Thomas Jr.’s mother, Sheddricka Castle, said Demarcus Thomas always had a positive attitude about him.
“He always said stuff that made you laugh,” she said.
Castle said Thomas had visited her and their son at 3 p.m. Monday. She said he left and said he was going to his mother’s house.
Castle said Thomas was supposed to return to her home after visiting his mother.
“He was a good person, and everybody loved him,” Castle said. “He didn’t deserve to die.”
Demarcus Thomas’ death is the ninth homicide in East Baton Rouge Parish in 2013, according to statistics compiled by The Advocate. It is the eighth homicide since Jan. 10.
Of the nine homicides so far, eight have been within city limits. The Sheriff’s Office investigated a homicide Jan. 13 in the 12000 block of Jefferson Highway.
Parish law enforcement agencies investigated seven homicides in January 2012.
Anyone with information about this shooting is urged to contact police at (225) 389-4869 or Crime Stoppers at (225) 344-7867.