In the quiet early morning hours in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the life of a young, aspiring musical artist was tragically cut short. Justice Thompson, a 17-year-old male, was discovered in a parked car on Adams Street on October 16, 2011. He had been shot multiple times and was rushed to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. The news of his violent death sent ripples of grief through his family and the community that knew him as a creative spirit.
For months, the investigation into Thompson's homicide continued, leaving his loved ones waiting for answers. Then, a significant development brought a sense of hope for justice. In June 2012, Baton Rouge Police announced the arrest of 21-year-old Erick Scott. He was officially charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Justice Thompson. At the time of his arrest for Thompson's murder, Scott was no stranger to law enforcement, as he was already incarcerated in the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. He was being held there on a separate first-degree murder charge for the death of another man, Kevin Johnson, who had been shot and killed in his vehicle a few months after Thompson's death, on February 14, 2012.
The legal proceedings against Erick Scott would ultimately focus on the murder of Kevin Johnson. Court records show that Scott was tried and found guilty of the second-degree murder of Johnson. For this crime, he was sentenced to life in prison at hard labor, without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. While the arrest of Scott brought an initial sense of closure to the family of Justice Thompson, the specific disposition of the first-degree murder charge against him in Thompson's case is not detailed in publicly available records. It is known that he is serving a life sentence for a homicide committed in the same period. An online profile for an inmate matching Erick Scott's name, age, and location indicates he is serving a life sentence for a second-degree homicide.
