2-year-old shot, killed in violent crime spree

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - A 2-year-old child was shot and killed on Thursday, Oct. 15, police say.

Police say the shooting happened around 9:30 p.m. when Kendrick Myles allegedly fired shots into a house on West Upland Avenue. A 2-year-old child was struck and was taken to the hospital. Chief Murphy Paul confirmed during a press conference Friday that the child later died.

The East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office identified the toddler as Azariah Thomas.

“The two years we had was a loving 2 years. Even though the person that did it is gone. It still don’t bring no closure to heavy heart that we have,” said Lakechia Powell, grandmother of the 2-year-old victim.

“All he want to say is let me watch, he’ll get you two and he’ll watch. Educational stuff. He knew all the Elmo’s, he knew all the Big Birds, he just know his ABC’s, all the way to 10,” said Powell.

The family says they knew the child’s alleged killer.

“We was just sitting there having family fun, and we just heard shots from the window. And we just realized ‘NaNa’ (boys nickname). He came and he stole my ‘NaNa’ away from us,” said Powell.

“This guy (suspect) was almost like a family member, he’s been around that long. He was considered family, to the family. And for him to do this, for him to do this, it makes it even harder,” said Lena Cassel, a family member.

“Azariah means king in the bible. Okay, he was our little king for a short period of time, but he will continue to be our little king,” said Cassel.

More: BRPD arrests suspect for death of child, multiple violent incidents

During that press conference, police said Myles is tied to four violent incidents that happened Thursday night. He was arrested on several charges, including first-degree murder.

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