KLFY reporter Britt Lofaso, who was doing a LIVE report on an increase in violence in the city of St. Martinville, looked alarmed but remained calm and maintained her composure after hearing shots fired just blocks away from her live location.
ST. MARINVILLE, La. (KLFY) — There have been three shootings in St. Martinville in the month of August.
two people died in two separate shootings. one person was injured in the third.
“It’s all just getting out of hand. St. Martinville has never been this bad, and my kids have to come here and I pray for my sons. I’m scared for them. I fear for them.”
This month, St. Martinville Police have investigated two murders with the most recent killing happening Monday morning. (August 23)
Police say the victim was at home when a suspect knocked on his door and shot him in his home; his two year old child saw his father die.
“I pray everyday about it. But it’s like it’s just getting worse and the guy that we lost today, Tez, he was a good friend. He was a person that’s always smiling, and he’s family. He’s always home with his family. He’s not running on the streets. he’s not wilding out. he’s at home, a peaceful person.”
“If you ain’t safe at home doing nothing, then where are you safe? So this is a call out to the whole city of St. Martinville.”
Lawrence Levy III
Just two weeks ago and a few blocks away from this murder, a 19-year-old teen was fatally shot at a convenience store.
“To many people are afraid to come out of their houses now. they’re afraid to even go to grocery stores. older people are fearing for their lives. this is not the way to live.”
Pastor Lawrence Levy, a local community activist, says he’s now working with the St. Martinville Mayor to bring an event he calls the funeral is cancelled to the city after this sudden rash of murders.
It’s a re-enactment of violent crimes and gun violence that levy says plagues our communities.
“Many times you shoot but you’ve never really seen a dead body. You just did the shooting, and you run. But to see people laying down, to see the descriptive work of what I created and bringing the visuals to life about violence as it relates to our youth, our domestic violence, all of these different types of violence throughout our nation as a whole, kind of wakes them up a little bit more and brings it to the forefront and the light even better.”