City Officials Speak About Fatalities
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
Two deadly Opelousas incidents which resulted in city police arrests this week might have been prevented if the alleged suspects in each of the separate incidents had taken better precautions, public and law enforcement officials said on Thursday.
“Public safety is about personal responsibility, like having firearms that are stored properly so they cannot be reached and animals who are controlled so a neighbor down the street is never in danger,” police chief Graig Leblanc said on Thursday.
LeBlanc, three members of the Opelousas Board of Aldermen – Chastity Warren, Marvin Richard and Charles Cummings – and Mayor Julius Alsandor appeared at a press conference inside OPD headquarters to provide what LeBlanc said is transparency for the deaths of a 69-year-old man in Court Street and a 4-year-old girl on the corner of Kim Drive and Mia streets.
The two deaths occurred nearly 24 hours apart on Wednesday, police have said.
According to an investigative update provided to St. Landry Now.com by LeBlanc, police have arrested 30-year Lydell Rubin of Opelousas on charges of negligent homicide and illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection with the death of the girl who LeBlanc said had been transported to a local hospital.
In the other unconnected incident, police have arrested Kimberly Faulk of Opelousas for negligent homicide and two counts of unlawful restraints of a dog after the dogs she allegedly owned, allegedly attacked Horace Brooks, who police say was walking in the middle of Court Street sometime past midnight on Wednesday.
Both of the incidents remain under investigation, LeBlanc said.
Infant Shooting Death
LeBlanc said police are unwilling at this time to provide the name of the female victim, who he said was transported by the suspect to a hospital following the firearm discharge.
“The girl was the daughter of the suspect. We were able to capture some of the incident on video. We also have a statement from the father. Right now (investigators) are trying to determine the exact owner of the firearm,” said LeBlanc.
LeBlanc said the girl somehow obtained possession of the firearm which LeBlanc said was located inside a vehicle and at some point, the weapon discharged.
The firearm believed to have been involved in the shooting has been recovered, said LeBlanc.
Fatal Dog Attacks
Brooks, LeBlanc said, apparently lived in an apartment on Court Street about a block away from where he was attacked.
LeBlanc said in an interview with St. Landry Now.com that the dogs involved in the attack are pit bulls.
A court order, LeBlanc said, has been issued so that the dogs involved in the attack can be euthanized.
An arrest report issued by police on Wednesday indicates that emergency personnel reported to the scene in order to provide assistance, but Brooks was unresponsive.
