In the summer of 2022, a young Black man named LaDarious Scott, aged 22, tragically lost his life in Natchitoches, Louisiana. On the afternoon of June 19th, police responded to calls of gunshots in the vicinity of North Melrose Avenue. Upon their arrival, they discovered Scott suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced deceased at the scene by the Natchitoches Parish Coroner’s Office.
Investigators at the scene soon pieced together the violent sequence of events.
The suspect was identified as 24-year-old Dave Bigford. It was determined that following the shooting of Scott, Bigford forced his own girlfriend into a vehicle at gunpoint and fled the area. This brazen act sparked a multi-parish chase as law enforcement agencies in the surrounding areas were put on high alert.
The pursuit came to a dramatic and destructive end in Rapides Parish. Before his capture, Bigford's girlfriend managed to escape the moving vehicle in Alexandria. The chase concluded when Bigford crashed his vehicle into a ditch. As law enforcement closed in, they found him with a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was transported to a local hospital for his injuries. In the aftermath of the violent rampage, Dave Bigford was charged with Second Degree Murder for the death of LaDarious Scott and Aggravated Kidnapping.
