SEC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT Tigers top Aggies, advance to semifinals 1C
ADVOCATE THE
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
|
S at u r d ay, M ay 24, 2025
$2.00X
Homicides fuel debate over blight Mayor’s Office orders more patrols in Melrose East after two bodies found in abandoned buildings
BY PATRICK SLOAN TURNER, QUINN COFFMAN and AIDAN MCCAHILL Staff writers
In just over a month, two bodies were found in separate abandoned Baton Rouge apartment buildings a few hundred feet apart. Authorities say they have no reason to think the homicides are connected. But the killings underscore the connection between crime and blight, even as a push is underway to change how the city handles abandoned homes and buildings. Hillar Moore, East Baton Rouge Parish’s district attorney, said abandoned properties “give the space” for crimes to take place undetected. Moore said the two homicides have caught people’s attention.
“We need to look to see what’s happening in that area and what’s going on with the blighted property,” he said Moore said he’s been in contact with Mayor-President Sid Edwards about the issue, specifically in the Melrose East neighborhood. Falon Brown, spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office, said “blight and crime go hand-in-hand, and we’re committed to addressing both with urgency.” The Mayor’s Office said they have directed law enforcement to increase patrols in Melrose East. The killings come as some local business and political leaders are backing a package of bills in the state Legislature to change how vacant, rundown property is handled by the Metro Council.
STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS
The body of Shaquinnta Scott was found dead on the second floor of this abandoned apartment complex on ä See BLIGHT, page 7A Monet Drive.
LAID TO REST
BR judge fights to stay on bench
Foxworth-Roberts faces commission in misconduct hearing BY ANDREA GALLO Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Steven Richardson, flanked by his wife Robin and brother Jimmy, is presented an American flag by a uniformed service member during the funeral of his father, Gail Woodrow Richardson, at Greenoaks Memorial Park and Funeral Home on Friday. Gail Richardson, a Gozales resident, was the oldest World War II veteran in Louisiana before passing away at the age of 105. He served with the Army in the medical corps, working in a hospital unit overseas before moving to the infantry. Story, Page 1B.
Baton Rouge Judge Tiffany Foxworth-Roberts said Friday that she should not be stripped of her judgeship even as she acknowledged failures in judgment and admitted to some allegations that she embellished her military service as well as other lapses. Foxworth-Roberts spent Friday fielding questions Foxworthfrom Louisiana’s Roberts Judiciary Commission, which will recommend what kind of discipline she should face in her misconduct case. The state’s Office of Special Counsel has asked that Foxworth-Roberts be booted off the bench, a rare step that has not been taken against a Louisiana judge in more than a decade. Foxworth-Roberts’ pattern of lies and obfuscation make her
ä See JUDGE, page 6A
Trump threatens to raise tariffs on EU, smartphones BY JOSH BOAK Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday threatened a 50% tax on all imports from the European Union as well a 25% tariff on smartphones unless those products are made in America. The threats, delivered over social media, reflect Trump’s ability to disrupt the global economy
WEATHER HIGH 93 LOW 74 PAGE 8A
with a burst of typing, as well as the reality that his tariffs have yet to produce the trade deals he is seeking or the return of domestic manufacturing he has promised voters. The Republican president said he wants to charge higher import taxes on goods from the EU, a long-standing U.S. ally, than from China, a geopolitical rival that had its tariffs cut to 30% this month so
Washington and Beijing could hold negotiations. Trump was upset by the lack of progress in trade talks with the EU, which has proposed mutually cutting tariffs to zero even as the president has publicly insisted on preserving a baseline 10% tax on most imports. “Our discussions with them are going nowhere!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff
on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025. There is no Tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the United States.” Speaking later in the Oval Office, Trump stressed that he was not seeking a deal with the EU and might delay the tariffs if more companies invested in the United States. “I’m not looking for a deal,” Trump told the reporters. “We’ve
Business ......................5B Deaths .........................4B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................7D Living............................1D Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....4D-6D Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
set the deal. It’s at 50%.” The EU’s top trade official, Maros Sefcovic, posted on the social media site X that he spoke Friday with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. “The EU’s fully engaged, committed to securing a deal that works for both,” Sefcovic posted.
ä See TARIFFS, page 6A
100TH yEAR, NO. 328