Markel Lee is a seventeen year old alleged teen killer who has been charged with the murder of Martha Odom which took place at the Mall Of Louisiana in Baton Rouge
According to police reports the shooting took place in the Mall Of Louisiana food court where six people would be shot with Martha Odom dying from her injuries and a 43 year old man left in critical care with the others suffering minor injuries. Police believe that the shooting was caused by two rival groups that turned incredibly violent
Markel Lee would be named as a suspect and the seventeen year old would turn himself into police
Markel Lee has been charged with one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder plus other charges
Markel Lee News
The person killed in a shooting at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge was a 17-year-old girl, and a 17-year-old boy is now facing a first-degree murder charge, authorities announced on Friday, April 24.
Markel Lee, 17, was being held at a local prison on the murder charge, as well as five charges of attempted first-degree murder, Baton Rouge Police Chief Thomas Morse said at a news conference. The charges stem from a shooting at the mall that police say caught innocent bystanders in the crossfire in the middle of the day on April 23.
USA TODAY was working to identify an attorney representing Lee or a family member who could speak on his behalf.
Police identified the 17-year-old girl killed in the shooting as Martha Odom. She was described as an overachieving captain of her soccer team, editor of her school newspaper and a teacher at her dance school, according to reporting by The Advocate.
She was at the mall with her friends for “senior skip day” three weeks before graduation, the outlet reported.
Of the five others injured in the shooting, a 43-year-old man was in critical condition and undergoing surgery on Friday, Morse said.
Here’s what to know about the deadly mall melee.
The shooting took place inside the food court of the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, about 10 miles southwest of downtown.
The largest mall in the state, it’s located just off Interstate 10 near Bluebonnet Boulevard, a major thoroughfare that runs through the city
Police on April 24 said detectives continued to investigate what led up to the shooting.
Morse said that it wasn’t “a random act of violence but a very targeted disagreement between two groups of people.”
“It looks like guns were pulled after words were exchanged right in front of some of the food counters in the food court,” Morse said. “When those guns were pulled and shots rang out, that’s when we, unfortunately and very tragically, had innocent victims struck.”
Seventeen-year-old Martha Odom was killed in the shooting.
Morse did not identify whether Martha was involved in the fight that led to the shooting or was a bystander.
Five people also were injured in the shooting, including a 43-year-old man who is currently fighting for his life. The other four were treated for minor injuries.
It was not immediately known whether the injured were involved in the groups police said opened fire on one another.
Police announced the arrest of 17-year-old Markel Lee on a charge of first-degree murder, five charges of attempted first-degree murder and a gun charge.
Morse previously told reporters that five people in total were in custody in connection to the shooting and were being interviewed. On April 24, he said the other four were considered people of interest.
Morse also shared the photo of another suspect whom police are seeking.
Who died in the Mall of Louisiana shooting? What to know
Markel Lee Other News
Gov. Jeff Landry on Friday blamed a fatal mass shooting at the Mall of Louisiana on “failures” at home and on judges who follow “hug-a-thug” policies rather than holding people responsible for their actions.
At a news conference, Baton Rouge Police Chief T.J. Morse said 17-year-old Markel Lee surrendered Friday morning, after Thursday’s shooting at the mall’s food court. Landry said later that “the beginning of this failure was at home.”
“The arrest of that young man is their parents’ failure first,” Landry said. He said that anyone who took part in Thursday’s mayhem deserved to serve life terms.
“We got 18,000 acres at Angola. If it’s up to me, I’d send them all there for the rest of their lives,” he said.
Landry also blamed the judicial process, specifically
“People say we cannot arrest our way out of this problem, and they are right. We can sentence our way out of this problem,” the governor said.
Markel Lee will be charged with first-degree murder and five counts of attempted first-degree murder after the death of Martha Odom, an Ascension Episcopal School senior. The Lafayette student was visiting the mall on a “Senior Skip Day,” a common student-declared holiday near the end of the academic year.
Another victim, 43-year-old Donnie Guillory, remains in critical condition at a hospital.
Baton Rouge Police detained five others Thursday but released them, Morse said. He said they remain persons of interest and could ultimately face charges.
Markel Lee has a criminal record, Morse said, and Landry showed obvious frustration.
“You see these folks working day and night, arresting the same people,” Landry said. “Y’all see the juvenile violence that goes on again and again. And yet over the last five years before I became governor, or eight years while I was attorney general, I watched nothing but hug-a-thug policies in this state. A watering down of our criminal justice system.”
Five other people, including two of Odom’s classmates, were injured, and Markel Lee would be charged with five counts of attempted murder. He also faces weapons-related charges.
Mall employees recounted the moment shots rang out in the crowded mall.
“At first I heard a loud pop, and then another pop. I thought at first somebody was shooting fireworks in the food court,” Signi Dreyer, who operates the carousel in the middle of the food court, said.
Nearly three hours after the shooting happened, Morse announced five people had been taken into custody.
The mall was closed after the shootings and remained closed Friday.
BRPD: 17-year-old arrested in Mall of Louisiana shooting; faces murder, attempted murder charges
