A tragic chain of events originating in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, culminated in the death of three-month-old La’Mello Parker on May 3, 2021. The infant boy was caught in a hail of bullets during a shootout between his father, Eric Derrell Smith, and law enforcement officers on Interstate 10 in Harrison County, Mississippi. The series of events began earlier that day when Smith, 30, allegedly shot and killed La’Mello's mother, Christin Parker, 32, and her nephew, Brandon Parker, 26, at their
residence in Baker, Louisiana, near Baton Rouge. After the double homicide, Smith fled the scene with his infant son, prompting a multi-state police pursuit.
Louisiana State Police located Smith's vehicle near Slidell and pursued him across the state line into Mississippi, where various Mississippi law enforcement agencies joined the chase. The pursuit continued at low speeds, with officers deploying spike strips to disable Smith's car. The chase ended in the median of I-10 near the Woolmarket exit in Biloxi. Accounts from law enforcement state that Smith emerged from the vehicle holding the baby and fired at officers. In response, officers unleashed a volley of more than 20 rounds into the car.
Both Eric Smith and La’Mello Parker were struck during the gunfire. Smith was pronounced dead at the scene. La’Mello was rushed to a local hospital and then transferred to USA Children's & Women's Hospital in Mobile, Alabama, where he died from his injuries the following day. The incident sparked outrage and calls for transparency from the infant's family and community activists, who questioned the necessity of the level of force used by officers when they knew a child was in the vehicle.
The Biloxi Police Department conducted an investigation into the shooting and turned its findings over to the Harrison County District Attorney's Office. The case was presented to a grand jury. In April 2022, the grand jury concluded that the officers involved had committed no criminal wrongdoing and declined to issue any indictments. The grand jury's report stated that Smith had exited his vehicle holding the baby to his chest while firing at officers, justifying their return fire. Following the grand jury's decision, La'Mello's family filed a federal lawsuit against the law enforcement agencies involved, alleging constitutional violations. However, a district court dismissed the case, a decision that was later affirmed by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which cited qualified immunity for the officers.
