HARRISON COUNTY, Miss. — The infant son of a Louisiana murder suspect who led authorities on a chase that ended in a Monday shootout on Interstate 10 in Mississippi has died, police confirmed.
Eric Derell Smith, 30, was suspected of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend and her nephew near Baker, Louisiana, then fleeing the scene with his 4-month-old child, WLOX reported.
Update 11:24 a.m. EDT May 4: Officials with the Biloxi Police Department in Mississippi confirmed to WLOX that Smith’s 4-month-old son died while hospitalized Tuesday morning. The child had been listed in stable condition after being transported Monday from an area hospital to USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital in Mobile, Alabama.
#BREAKING Biloxi Police confirm Eric Derell Smith’s 4-month old son died in the hospital this morning.
— Andrés Fuentes (@news_fuentes) May 4, 2021
Smith had his baby with him during a police chase that started in Baton Rouge.
Smith died in gunfire off the I-10 in Biloxi. He is suspected of double murder in LA.@WLOX pic.twitter.com/2glpJqltQC
Original report: A police chase on Interstate 10 in Mississippi ended Monday afternoon with the suspect in a Louisiana double slaying dead and a 4-month-old child hospitalized in stable condition.
Eric Derell Smith, 30, was suspected of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend and her nephew near Baker, Louisiana, then fleeing the scene with his 4-month-old child, WLOX reported.
#BREAKING Mississippi Highway Patrol and other agencies have the crime scene tape up around the area where they stopped a suspected murder from Baton Rouge.
— Andrés Fuentes (@news_fuentes) May 3, 2021
The suspect started a police chase from Baton Rouge with a child and was stopped on the I-10 East in Biloxi.@WLOX pic.twitter.com/yOziNi8Z5n
Biloxi Police Chief John Miller confirmed to The Advocate that Smith and officers were involved in a shootout after Smith drove his blue Nissan Versa into an I-10 median but said he did not know if officers killed Smith or if the suspect killed himself.
Meanwhile, the Harrison County coroner confirmed to WLOX that the shot that killed Smith was not a self-inflicted wound and noted that Smith was sitting in the vehicle’s driver’s seat when he was struck by multiple gunshots.
The coroner also stated that the infant was shot during the shootout and was rushed by U.S. Marshals to an area hospital immediately following the incident. The child was moved later in the day to USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital in Mobile, Alabama, and was crying and in stable condition en route, WLOX reported.
#BREAKING Looks like law enforcement successfully stopped this murder suspect after a chase that started in Baton Rouge.
— Andrés Fuentes (@news_fuentes) May 3, 2021
I got word that the suspect was holding a child and firing at police as he was being chased.@WLOX pic.twitter.com/vDBjZyEQv0
The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office has identified the shooting victims near Baker as Christin Parker, 32, and Brandon Parker, 26, The Advocate reported.
Cox Media Group
