In what began as a transaction arranged on social media for a dirt bike, a young man's life was cut short in a fatal shooting. Melique Etienne, a 22-year-old male, died on July 22, 2025, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The incident unfolded around 6:30 p.m. in the 3700 block of Cathedral Drive, near Wyandotte Street, where Etienne and his alleged accomplice had planned to meet two individuals selling the vehicle.
The purported buyer, later identified by police as 18-year-old Markle Burris
Jr., engaged the sellers and began to delay the purchase with unusual questions and phone calls, supposedly to arrange for payment. During this time, Etienne approached the group armed with a gun and wearing a ski mask. He demanded the sellers unfasten the dirt bike from their trailer. Burris then moved the bike off the trailer, and Etienne got on behind him. When the dirt bike failed to start, Etienne reportedly threatened to shoot the sellers. In a sudden turn of events, one of the sellers, who was also carrying a firearm, shot Etienne.
First responders arrived to find Etienne with multiple gunshot wounds. Despite their efforts to render aid, he succumbed to his injuries at the scene. His alleged partner, Markle Burris Jr., fled after the shooting. An anonymous tip later led investigators to Burris, who was already on bond for a previous armed robbery and had an active warrant for a similar incident involving a dirt bike sale from Facebook Marketplace.
Following an investigation by Baton Rouge Police Homicide detectives, Markle Burris Jr. was arrested and booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. He faces charges of second-degree murder and attempted armed robbery with the use of a firearm. The investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
