2-15-22
THE LAFAYETTE PARISH CORONER’S OFFICE IS REPORTING NINETY-SIX OVERDOSE DEATHS LAST YEAR. THE BIGGEST CONTRIBUTOR WAS FENTANYL, WHICH WAS FOUND IN SEVENTY PERCENT OF OVERDOSE VICTIMS IN THE PARISH, UP FROM SIXTY PERCENT IN TWENTY-TWENTY AND FORTY-FIVE PERCENT IN TWENTY-NINETEEN. FENTANYL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ONE HUNDRED NINETY-EIGHT DEATHS BETWEEN TWENTY-SIXTEEN AND TWENTY-TWENTY. FENTANYL IS OFTEN LACED INTO OTHER DRUGS TO MAKE THEM MORE POTENT AND CHEAPER.
RESIDENTS WHO LIVE ON CHEROKEE STREET IN NEW IBERIA EXPRESSED SHOCK WHEN THEY LEARNED HUMAN REMAINS WERE FOUND THERE ON SUNDAY. KLFY TV INTERVIEWED SEVERAL WHO SAID THE PROPERTY WHERE THE REMAINS WERE FOUND HAS BEEN A DUMPING GROUND AND IT NEEDS TO BE CLEANED UP. CHRISTOPHER CARTER, WHO LIVES NEARBY, SAYS THE BODY COULD HAVE BEEN FOUND LONG AGO BECAUSE HE CALLED POLICE IN NOVEMBER WHEN HE SMELLED SOMETHING STRANGE, BUT HE NEVER SAW THEM COME OUT. A RELATIVE OF DEJA CUMMINGS, A TWENTY-YEAR-OLD WOMAN WHO WENT MISSING IN OCTOBER, TELLS KLFY INVESTIGATORS BELIEVE THESE ARE HER REMAINS.
GOVERNOR JOHN BEL EDWARDS SAYS THE STATE IS FINALLY COMING OFF THE OMICRON SURGE. SYLVIA MASTERS HAS THE DETAILS.
VOICER H :35
Authorities say a disturbing video of officers hitting a teenager outside a high school basketball game doesn’t show what happened before — teens hitting the officers in their faces and from behind. The Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office and DeRidder police say the fight broke out about 9:15 p.m. Friday outside the gym where rival DeRidder and Leesville high schools were playing. KPLC-TV reports that it was sent a video showing multiple officers on top of and hitting a person described by witnesses as a 16-year-old. DeRidder Mayor Misty Clanton says a circulating 28-second clip “is heartbreaking and very difficult to watch,” but she adds that “the moments leading up to, during and after are also extremely disturbing.”
YOUNGSVILLE CITY COUNCILMAN GARY P. WILLIAMS DIED UNEXPECTEDLY YESTERDAY AT THE AGE OF FIFTY-SEVEN. WILLIAMS WAS ELECTED TO THE CITY COUNCIL IN TWENTY-EIGHTEEN. HE ALSO WAS A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN, WHO OWNED GARY P. WILLIAMS CONSTRUCTION. FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS ARE PENDING.
AN EIGHTY-YEAR-OLD STEPHENSVILLE MAN DIED SUNDAY AFTER HIS BOAT CAPSIZED IN BAYOU MILHOMME. AGENTS WITH THE LOUISIANA WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES ENFORCEMENT DIVISION WERE NOTIFIED ABOUT THE CAPSIZED VESSEL AT AROUND ONE P-M AND RECOVERED THE BODY OF HEBERT CRAPPELL. HE WASN’T WEARING A FLOTATION DEVICE AND AGENTS LEARNED THAT, WHEN HE WENT UNDERWATER, HE NEVER RESURFACED. IT’S NOT KNOWN WHAT CAUSED THE BOAT TO OVERTURN.
Gov. John Bel Edwards says he hasn’t decided yet whether he’ll veto congressional remap legislation that fails to create a second majority-Black district in Louisiana. Edwards said Monday such maps can and should be drawn, but he’ll wait until a bill has made it through the legislative process before deciding. Each chamber has approved its own version of a congressional remap bill by what appears to be the two-thirds margin necessary to override a veto. Also Monday, the state Senate approved a bill re-drawing its own district boundary lines to account for population shifts.
A TURKEY CREEK POLICE OFFICER, WHO IS DIABETIC, MAY HAVE EXPERIENCED A SEVERE HYPOGLYCEMIC EPISODE WHEN HE WAS ARRESTED ON FEBRUARY FIRST. SYLVIA MASTERS HAS MORE.
VOICER G :24
