Police in Lake Charles, Louisiana, said 12 suspects were arrested after a shooting resulted in a child being killed as she watched television.
“The drive-by shooting, which took place at around 10:45 p.m. on Sunday, March 20, killed Draya Michelle Guillory, 6. She was pronounced dead at the scene,” KLFY reported on Thursday.
According to KPLC’s Jillian Corder, Guillory was killed as she sat on her grandmother’s sofa, enjoying television.
“It was a drive by shooting that took Draya from her family – now left mourning a little girl, begging for answers, and pleading for the violence to end,” Corder wrote in her social media post on March 21.
A photo showed the child smiling as she played outside on her bicycle:
The KLFY report was updated Thursday to note the arrest of Michael Carter, who was wanted regarding the case. He turned himself in to authorities earlier that afternoon.
“Lake Charles Police Deputy Chief Franklin Fondel, Jr., said detectives believe the shooting was a retaliation ‘from an ongoing earlier incident,’ and he noted that a number of the suspects arrested affiliate themselves with a group known as ‘NawfSideBabies,'” the outlet said.
The names of the arrested:
Michael Carter, 19; Elijah Paul Carter, 28; Devonte Jermaine Glodd, 26; Jaylyn Lamar Botley, 23; Zaylon Ray Wheeler, 18; Martice Michelle Cain, 22; Christopher Demon Orphey, 18; Keyaisa Michelle Siverand, 23; Ja’Michael Issiah Siverand, 22; Jesse James Siverand, 19; Joshua Demonte Siverand, 22; and Jeremy Donald Collins, 26.
In a social media post earlier on Thursday, Corder shared photos of the suspects:
Per the Center Square, Lake Charles’ violent crime rate has reached to almost double that of the nation’s, the outlet reported in November.
“There were 1,663 violent crimes reported in the metro area in 2020, or 789 for every 100,000 people. Due entirely to a surge in cases of aggravated assaults, Lake Charles’ violent crime rate is 44% higher now than it was in 2019,” the article said.