Maya Rodriguez / Eyewitness News
RACELAND, La.-- Deputies in Lafourche Parish are looking for a gunman responsible for the fatal shooting of an eighth grader.
It happened just after 11:30 p.m. Monday, near the intersection of Market and 5th Streets in Raceland. That's where 15-year old Jamonta Miles was shot in the head, as he rode in the back of an SUV.
Miles' family never thought the new year would bring an end to his young life.
"He was a happy kid, always smiling," said Sheley Johnson, Miles' grandfather.
Johnson said the family received a call around midnight, saying the eighth grader had been killed.
"We have a real close knit family, for something like this to happen, it's not that easy to deal with," he said.
The Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office said Miles and six other teens were in a GMC Yukon, at the intersection of Market and 5th streets, when they approached a pedestrian walking along the road.
"According to the statements we received from the people who were in the vehicle, they saw the shooter walking along the street and they stopped and allegedly asked if he would sell them some weed, or if he had some weed," said Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre. "At that point, there was an altercation, a verbal altercation, in which he pulled a weapon which they described as a shiny semi-automatic."
Investigators said the pedestrian began firing and bullets hit the vehicle four times. One of the bullets struck Miles in the head; another teen was injured.
Webre said fatal shootings are unusual in Lafourche Parish.
"For the last four or five years, we've only had one or two homicides a year, and typically they've been related to domestic violence or drug involvement," he said.
However, Miles' family said the 15-year-old was not the kind of person to get into trouble, and that he was into computers, not drugs.
"He just ended up being in the wrong place at the wrong time because it's not in his character to go out and be involved in a bunch of craziness and stuff like that," Johnson said.
Miles' body was brought to Jefferson Parish for an autopsy.
In the meantime, the Lafourche Sheriff's Office said it does not have suspect. They are asking anyone information in this case to call the Bayou Region Crimestoppers at 1-800-SHERIFF.
