The two marshals charged with fatally shooting a 6-year-old Louisiana boy and critically injuring his father will be held on $1 million bond each, a judge said Monday.
Derrick Stafford, 32, of Mansura, and Norris Greenhouse Jr., 23, of Marksville, each face charges of second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder in the shooting death of Jeremy Mardis, who was killed when marshals fired on the child's father's vehicle last Tuesday. Mardis' father, Chris Few, was critically injured.
Investigators have been analyzing evidence to determine what sparked the shooting, which Louisiana State Police said happened "at the conclusion of a pursuit." Mardis was struck by five bullets, according to the Avoyelles Parish coroner's office.
Few's attorney, Mark Jeansonne, told The Associated Press on Monday that police body camera video shows his client had his hands up and didn't pose a threat when the officers shot into his car. Jeansonne said he hadn't seen the video, but it was described during Monday's bond hearing.
Jeansonne also told the AP that Few's condition was improving, but the father hadn't yet been told that his 6-year-old had died.
Greenhouse and Stafford — who are being held at the Avoyelles Parish jail, according to jail records — will be confined to home detainment with electronic monitoring if they meet bond, according to Avoyelles court documents.
District Attorney Charles A. Riddle recused himself from the case Monday because the assistant district attorney is Greenhouse's father, according to a motion of recusal from his office.
Greenhouse is a full-time marshal for the nearby city of Alexandria, and Stafford is a lieutenant with the Marksville Police Department, said Col. Michael Edmonson, superintendent of the Louisiana State Police.
Edmonson said Friday that body camera video helped lead to their arrests. "I can tell you, as a father, it was one of the most disturbing things I've witnessed," Edmonson said of the footage.
"We've got to find out what caused those officers to effect that pursuit, to effect that traffic stop, and what caused them to fire their weapons," Edmonson told NBC News on Sunday night.
Mardis, whose family has said was autistic, was to be buried Monday after a funeral service in Mississippi, where he had recently moved from, according to an obituary.
"He was a very loving little boy and a true gift from God," the obituary said.
