State Police spokesman Dustin Dwight said Louisiana State Police knew a baby was in a car that troopers chased from Slidell into Mississippi on May 3.
The chase ended in the deaths of the fleeing car’s driver and his nearly 4-month-old son, after Mississippi law enforcement officers opened fire.
Dwight said troopers notified Mississippi authorities, who took over the chase across the state line, that a child was in the car with the fleeing suspect.
Driver Eric Derell Smith was wanted in connection to a double murder in Baker, just outside Baton Rouge. Smith died Monday night, and the infant, Le’Mello Parker, was hospitalized and died the following day. The Harrison County Coroner’s Office said Parker died of a gunshot wound.
Dwight said that prior to the chase, troopers were helping East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office locate the infant, Smith and Smith’s car. They located Smith’s car on I-10, traveling east near Slidell. A marked Louisiana State Police trooper tried to pull Smith over. When he refused to stop, troopers chased the car into Mississippi, where authorities there took over.
Dwight said State Police launched a routine review and documentation of the pursuit. He referred questions about the shooting and anything that happened across the state line to authorities in Mississippi.
