BOGALUSA, La. — “That’s two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and you can just keep counting,” said Shaterica Johnson as she counts bullet holes in a tree near the intersection of Dan Street and Hickory Avenue in Bogalusa.
“You can see that he was definitely shot a lot of times,” said Johnson.
That tree was behind her younger brother, Aaron Brown who was murdered back in August during a drive-by shooting while walking with a friend.
“When I got to the scene he was laying right here,” said Johnson as she pointed to a spot of gravel next to the road. “He was laid right here.”
Johnson says her brother was a big kid with a love for sports. The 18-year-old was a junior at Bogalusa High School and the youngest of Madelyon Hatcher’s four kids.
“I still find myself calling Aaron and he’s not there to answer,” said Hatcher. “I never would have pictured that I would have to live through this, losing a child
Hatcher says she rushed to the scene that August day, but when she got there, wasn’t allowed to see her son.
“I never saw my child take his last breath,” said Hatcher.
Now Hatcher looks through photos, remembering a bright smile that wasn’t caught on camera much.
“You would have to catch him off guard to get that smile,” said Hatcher.
Brown’s death is one of two unsolved murders Bogalusa police are trying to solve. Fifteen days before Brown was killed, 21-year-old Typolia Peters, Jr. was gunned down in the same neighborhood.
Eyewitness News interviewed Peters’ father back in August, the day after Brown was killed.
“Every morning I’ve got two pictures in my face of my son. That’s when he was laying in the hospital bed with a tube in his mouth, lifeless and when he’s lying in the casket, lifeless,” said Typolia Peters, Sr. during an August 24th interview.
“There are murderers still on the streets in Bogalusa. This is a local incident. The suspects are local. The victims are local. This is here,” said Bogalusa Police Department Major Wendell O’Berry. “We can’t just let it go away and people quit thinking about it.”
O’Berry calls both cases senseless acts of violence. Right now, there’s not enough information to make an arrest.
“There’s no doubt that people saw something. I suppose their just scared to come forward,” said O’Berry. “If you want a safer community, come forward so we can get these people off the streets, so this doesn’t happen again.”
Hatcher says she’s hopeful someone will come forward and is thankful for the time she had with her son.
“It’s just hard on the family, trying to get through it, living day to day asking God for strength to keep us going,” said Hatcher.
Back at that tree with all the bullet holes, Johnson still visits from time to time.
“I have kids, so I have to be strong for them,” said Johnson. “I don’t have a lot of time to where I can get it out so those are my times to where I can let it all out."
There have been five murders in Bogalusa so far this year, these are the only two unsolved. If you know anything call the BPD tip line at 985-732-6238 or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.