A 10-year-old boy is in custody after allegedly confessing to fatally shooting a former Louisiana mayor and his daughter, local authorities said Monday.
Joe Cornelius, 82, and his daughter, Keisha Miles, 31, were found dead inside their Minden residence on Sunday morning (September 1st), according to the city’s police chief and NBC News.
The victims had been shot multiple times, said the police chief, adding that two handguns were used, and their magazines were emptied.
A 6-year-old child who was at the home during the shooting was not injured.
“We have the suspect in custody now,” Minden Police Chief Jared McIver said of the 10-year-old, adding, “We have a confession from the suspect.”
McIver identified the boy as a relative of the Cornelius family but declined to offer additional details due to the sensitive and complex nature of the case.
“We’ve got a confession. But in these cases, it’s very delicate. When you’re dealing with a child of this age, you know, we’re looking at… was there a motive, and what was the motive?” he told KTBS.
“Our city is in shock,” McIver continued. “How does a 10-year-old commit something so malicious? It’s one of those things where we still have a lot of unanswered questions.”
He added that even though the boy was frightened, he appeared to have a “mindset to commit a crime like this.” It’s unclear what type of mindset the police chief was referring to.
The boy is being held on two counts of first-degree murder, McIver said. He was accompanied by his grandmother, who is his legal guardian, for questioning during the investigation, according to KTBS.
Cornelius was a well-known community activist and briefly served as interim mayor of Minden in 2013, per KTBS.
A former Minden councilman, Cornelius was recognized for his work with local youth, which earned him the nickname “Mister Joe,” according to a 2003 newspaper clipping by KTLA.
In 1990, the city councilman founded the Concerned Citizens of Minden after a 10-year-old boy, Tray Day, told him there were no activities for kids in the summer. The organization would go on to raise funds for student scholarships.
In a statement Sunday, Minden Mayor Nick Cox remembered Cornelius as a good friend and acknowledged “the many ways he supported me and others in our city.”
“Joe Cornelius’s years of service to Minden were marked by his commitment and dedication to the betterment of our community,” Cox said, adding, “Let us come together as a community to honor Joe’s memory and support one another through this time of grief.”
