In the quiet community of La Place, Louisiana, a night of family preparations turned into a scene of unimaginable tragedy. Ron Oneal Tate, a 50-year-old Black male, was killed on Friday, October 4, 2024, in a senseless act of violence that also claimed the life of his 11-year-old niece, Sa'Miya McClain. The two were at Tate's home, helping to get ready for a toddler's birthday party, when they were struck by gunfire.
The shooting was not a random act, but Tate and his niece were not the
intended targets. Surveillance footage from the neighborhood revealed a chilling sequence of events. Two gunmen were seen hiding behind bushes and a parked car before opening fire on an individual who was walking in front of Tate's residence. That person, believed to be the actual target of the shooters, escaped unharmed. However, the volley of bullets pierced the walls of Tate's home, striking him and his young niece. A third person inside the house, a young woman, was grazed by a bullet but her injuries were not life-threatening.
The events leading up to the fatal shooting reportedly began with a dispute at a high school football game earlier that evening. It is alleged that the suspects pistol-whipped a woman, which then led to a retaliatory assault on them by friends of the woman. Seeking revenge for that attack, the gunmen went looking for their target and tragically ended the lives of two innocent people in the process.
In the aftermath of the shooting, the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff's Office launched an intensive investigation. Utilizing surveillance footage from the parish's crime camera network, investigators were able to track the suspects' movements before and after the shooting. This crucial evidence led to the swift identification and arrest of two suspects: Cartez Foster, 23, of LaPlace, and Patrick Maxon, 26, of Norco. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office apprehended them the following morning. Both Foster and Maxon have been booked with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder.
