A murder trial began Wednesday in a Memorial Day shooting that disrupted a poolside barbecue at a Baton Rouge apartment complex, killing three people, including a 21-month-old girl.
Ladarius Coleman, 18, is one of two men facing 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. His older brother, 22-year-old David Gerrell Williams, appeared in court Monday and had his trial date pushed back to March 24, court records show.
The two St. Francisville men opened fire at a holiday gathering as families cooked, relaxed and swam in the apartment complex’s community pool, according to prosecutors. Reginald Thomas Jr., 20, and Dewayne Dunn Jr., 16, were killed at the scene after authorities said Coleman and Williams started shooting.
Ja’Tyri Brown, who was 10 weeks shy of her second birthday, was playing next to the pool when one of the bullets struck her in the torso. The child’s parents pulled her out of the water and rushed her to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Regional Medical Center, where she died within minutes, Assistant District Attorney Morgan Johnson said Wednesday morning during opening statements at Coleman’s trial.
“I wish we weren’t here. This is tragic,” she told jurors as family members of the victims sat in the courtroom dabbing away tears. “But the reality is that Ladarius Coleman is responsible under the law for these three second-degree murders.”
Coleman faces a mandatory life sentence if he is found guilty of any of the three murder counts. The teen is being represented by Opelousas defense lawyer Jarvis Claiborne. Attorneys spent the first two days of the trial selecting a jury panel made up of eight women and six men.
“As my client sits here today, obviously before any evidence is put on, he is not guilty,” Claiborne said at the trial’s onset. “So please keep an open mind as you hear the evidence, weigh the evidence and the credibility of the witnesses. We feel at the end of the day, the state will not be able to carry that heavy burden they have to prove this particular case.”
Prosecutors plan to call several eyewitnesses to the stand who identified Coleman as one of the shooters. They will also show jurors surveillance videos of the incident, which unfolded around 7:45 p.m.
Johnson, the prosecutor, said Coleman and Williams went into the gated pool area to rob Dunn and Thomas of their guns.
Coleman and Williams are half brothers. Court records show the shooting stemmed from a beef they had with Dunn and Thomas. Coleman’s father told detectives the two victims shot up a party that Coleman attended prior to the fatal Memorial Day encounter.
According to Johnson, Coleman was in the parking lot when he spotted Dunn coming out of the pool to retrieve rolling papers from a car. He noticed Dunn was armed with an assault rifle.
Coleman, Williams and three others staked out in the parking lot for several minutes, checking to see who was poolside, before the brothers opened the gate, she said.
Dunn and Thomas were sitting in lounging chairs, their guns in their laps underneath towels, when the group entered the swimming area.
“Give me the AR; give me the gun. I told you I’d catch up with you,” witnesses reported hearing the shooters say before opening fire, according to Johnson.
Coleman shot Thomas three times in the back, while Williams shot Dunn three times in the head and face, she told jurors. The shooters then picked up Dunn and Thomas’ guns and fled the scene.
“They were ambushed unexpectedly. Ambushed and robbed,” Johnson said. “Meanwhile, there was a pool full of people that was put at risk.”
Witnesses told detectives Williams was firing wildly, according to police reports. The toddler’s father, Jarcobi Brown, was cooking on a grill on the other side of the pool when Ja’Tyri Brown was struck by a bullet. Johnson did not say if the shot was fired by Coleman or Williams.
Prosecutors allege the men are both legally responsible for all three killings because they were the aggressors carrying out a felony when the shooting occurred, making them principals to each murder count.
Police spent eight days searching for the two brothers before arresting them. Investigators said the men's mother, Latoya Coleman, helped them escape the state by booking them a hotel room in Texas following the shooting.
Latoya Coleman, 39, was indicted on two counts of accessory after the fact and is set to go before District Judge Fred Crifasi for a felony bench trial Dec. 2. Crifasi is also presiding over Ladarius Coleman’s trial by jury this week.
Christopher Alton Stovall, 26, and his younger brother, who was 15 at the time, were also arrested as principals to the killings. Investigators said they were among the group of men that stormed into the pool area with Williams and Ladarius Coleman when they started shooting.
Prosecutors sought to have Stovall and his brother indicted on three counts of second-degree murder, but a grand jury could not agree on the charges. The panel pretermitted the indictments in October 2021 and left them open for prosecutors to bring new charges in the future, court record show.