NEW ORLEANS — Bullet holes in Khlilia Daniels’ party venue on Warren Street in Bogalusa are a painful reminder.
“Seven or eight shots went straight and then paused for like one second, and they went again. After that, it was chaotic,” said Daniels.
Daniels says about 40 kids were at her 15-year-old niece’s birthday party Friday night.
“Party started at 8:30, and at 9:38, I was on the phone with 911,” said Daniels.
She ran over when she heard shots and saw a boy on the ground.
“The kids were flipping him over, and I told them to just leave him alone,” said Daniels. “I checked him. He still had a pulse, and I just rubbed him, and I told him it’s going to be ok. He was trying to talk. I said don’t talk.”
Ronie Taylor, 15, died at the scene.
“I thought he was going to the resource center,” said the teen’s mother, Ronique Jones-Taylor, as she tried to hold back tears Monday afternoon.
Ronie’s parents say they thought their son was going to a community resource center that night. They got a call he had been shot at a birthday party.
“He was a whole handful, but one thing he was is, he was positive. He had the energy to give people a smile when he was having a bad day,” said the boy’s father, Reginald Taylor. “For him to be gone, I don’t know how to even think about waking up without hearing him.”
The youngest of eight kids, Ronie was a student at Bogalusa High School. His parents say he was always motivated, love music, and wanted to own his own business.
“He always said, ‘Ma I’m going to make millions and I’m going to take care of you. Ma, y’all not going to want for nothing,’” said Jones-Taylor. “He was a good child, and he didn’t deserve it. I just want justice for my baby.”
According to Bogalusa Police, officers have responded to 77 calls of shots fired so far this year. There have been eight homicides, already a slight increase from six last year. At least three of the victims this year were kids.
“He used to come up and say, ‘Mr. Truong, we’re out of brochures. We need some more,’” said Bogalusa Mayor-elect Tyrin Truong.
Truong says he first met Ronie when the teen volunteered to help during his campaign, which partly focused on violence in the city.
“Picking up guns is not the answer. There are other ways to resolve conflict, and I think that’s what we’re going to have to keep instilling in these kids,” said Truong.
Two 14-year-olds were injured in Friday night’s shooting. Police say one was released from the hospital, and the other had surgery and is in stable condition. For Daniels, the violence has gotten to be too much. She’s pleading for change.
“[Sunday] when it rained, I sat in my car, and I watched that rain wash away that child’s blood. They’ve got to do something. This is horrible,” said Daniels.
Police are still trying to figure out whether Taylor was a target or a bystander in this shooting. Police say they have lots of leads, even surveillance video, and expect to make arrests soon.
Taylor’s funeral is set for Saturday at the Bogalusa High School auditorium.
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