Surveillance video lead to arrests in LaPlace triple shooting

New surveillance video reveals that the fatal shooting of 11-year-old Samiya McClain and her uncle, Ron Tate, may not have been the intended targets.

St. John The Baptist Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre disclosed that the victims were shot on Friday, Oct. 4, at Tate’s home near Sugar Ridge Road and Cinclair Loop while the Tate’s family was preparing for a 3-year-old’s birthday party.

Crime cameras from the neighborhood show that before midnight, two gunmen who hid behind bushes and a parked car on an opposite side of the street started shooting at someone who appeared to walk in front of Tate’s home.

Tate, McClain and a woman inside the home were hit by the bullets but the intended target was not injured in the attack. Tate and his niece died from their injuries, while the woman was grazed in the leg.

“Investigators connected the dots because when we were at the hospital checking on the victims who were shot”, Tregre said. “We also had a victim at the hospital who was there because she was beaten from being pistol-whipped at the football game.”

Tregre says the parish network of crime cameras changed the game for the investigation that helped in apprehending the suspects swiftly.

“Our crime cameras told the story. We tracked the suspects to Sugar Ridge Subdivision, where they exited the vehicle and fired multiple times at their intended target,” Tregre said. “They fled the area and we tracked them to Jefferson Parish.”

The suspects involved in the shooting are Cartez Foster, 23, of LaPlace and Patrick Maxon, 26, of Norco. Both were arrested by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office on Saturday morning near Severn Avenue.

The suspects allegedly pistol-whipped a female on Friday night near the East St. John stadium after a verbal confrontation during a high school football game. Friends of the the assaulted female then retaliated with assaults on Foster and Maxon.

Foster and Mason were booked with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder.

The parish has a network of nearly 550 high-definition crime cameras that cover every major roadway and neighborhoods to track crime. In May 2022, the Sheriff’s Office had signed a five-year contract worth $3.9 million with Axon Enterprise of Scottsdale, Arizona, to provide body worn cameras, in-car cameras, software and data storage.

Tregre commended the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, St. John Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Joel Pinto for their valuable and teamwork in apprehending suspects on the case.

As investigators continue to collect evidence, Tregre said he believes he has enough to warrant the death penalty.

“I don’t agree with Gov. Jeff Landry on everything, but I do agree on the death penalty,” Tregre said.

The post Surveillance video lead to arrests in LaPlace triple shooting appeared first on L'Observateur .