NEWS

Boy shot dead in Marksville marshal pursuit

Melissa Gregory

mgregory@gannett.com

Jeremy Mardis is seen in this Facebook screenshot. He was shot to death Tuesday night in Marksville.

A man fleeing Marksville city marshals was shot in the head and his 6-year-old son was killed after the marshals opened fire on their vehicle Tuesday night, according to Louisiana State Police.

The exact reason the Ward 2 marshals were in pursuit of Chris Few is unclear. Different sources have said he allegedly was fleeing from the marshals after an altercation at TJ's Lounge on Spring Bayou Road, and also that he fled after a traffic stop. Another source said he fled after marshals tried to serve a warrant on him.

Few was shot in the head and was transported to Alexandria's Rapides Regional Medical Center for treatment.

His son, Jeremy David Mardis, died at the scene after being hit multiple times in the head and chest, according to Avoyelles Parish Coroner Dr. L.J. Mayeux.

Jeremy was a first-grader at Lafargue Elementary School, which is on La. Highway 107 in Effie. Grief counselors were at the school on Wednesday.

Avoyelles Parish Schools Superintendent Blaine Dauzat told the Avoyelles Today website that counseling was available for both students and staff.

“This is such a tragic loss of a young life,” he said.

The shooting happened around 9:30 p.m. at the intersection of Martin Luther King Drive and Taensas Street, which dead-ends into the Marksville State Historic Site. Orange spray paint marked the position of where the vehicles ended up after the chase.

Orange paint marks the spot on Taensas Street in Marksville where a 6-year-old boy was shot and killed Tuesday night by Ward 2 city marshals. The marshals had been chasing a vehicle driven by the boy’s father, Chris Few. He was shot in the head, but survived. He later was taken to Rapides Regional Medical Center in Alexandria for surgery. The boy, Jeremy David Mardis, died at the scene after suffering multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso.

Sources told The Town Talk that Few tried to ram the marshal's vehicle, but the State Police release does not confirm that. It does say that the preliminary investigation found that the marshals "discharged their duty weapons, at a vehicle, at the conclusion of a pursuit."

State Police investigators from its Bureau of Investigations office in Alexandria are handling the investigation at the request of the Marksville Police Department.

State Police release statement on Ward 2 City Marshal's Office Officer Involved Shooting

State Police didn't release any additional information about Few on Wednesday, although his Facebook profile lists him as living in Ruby, which is in rural Rapides Parish, and that he was from Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Mayeux said Few was living in Marksville with his mother, Samantha Few. She told WBRZ TV in Baton Rouge that she went to the scene after hearing about the shooting and saw her grandson lying inside the vehicle. She said officials didn't tell her what had happened for several hours.

Samantha Few said her son was talking before he underwent surgery at Rapides, but she did not know whether Chris Few knew that his son was dead.

State Police are continuing their investigation.