D.C. SHOOTING SUSPECT CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATI0N 2A
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T u e s d ay, a p r i l 28, 2026
MALL MEMORIAL
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Report details issues at DCFS
Legislators voice frustrations about child welfare system BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By MICHAEL JOHNSON
Attendees hold candles during a candlelight prayer service on Monday honoring the victims of Thursday’s shooting at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge.
Shooting victims honored at prayer service BY CHARLES LUSSIER Staff writer
Four days after it was the site of a deadly mass shooting that left one dead and five people injured, leaders and residents of Baton Rouge and Acadiana returned to the Mall of Louisiana holding lit candles, trying to make sense of the senseless violence so recently visited upon one of the Capital City’s most prominent locales. “Almost everyone who lives in our region has graced this space,” said Mayor-President Sid Edwards. “Who hasn’t been here?” Edwards thanked a crowd of more than 200 people for coming out Monday night, but said the work can’t end here. “Sometimes events happen and it’s a wake-up call, but the thing is we have to stay awake,” Edwards said. The service was held in the outdoor section of the mall. The food court, where the shooting occurred, was visible in the distance. Almost all of the speakers were Christian ministers, mostly from Baton Rouge. The event was organized by state Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, of Baton Rouge. “This is what true community
Louisiana’s child welfare system unnecessarily separated siblings in foster care, left children to stay in psychiatric hospitals after they were discharged, and frequently communicated poorly with families, a new state watchdog report has found. In its first annual report, Louisiana’s new child ombudsman reviewed 307 complaints made in 2025 against the Department of Children and Family Services and found several cases where department workers failed to follow policy and, in at least one instance, breached federal law. But in a Sunday letter to state lawmakers, department Secretary Rebecca Harris said some of the information in the report detailing child abuse deaths contains confidential information, and its release violates state and federal law. “The Department has requested advice and guidance from our federal oversight agency regarding the unauthorized disclosure of this sensitive and confidential information,” Harris writes. “The Department extends its sincerest apology to the families and loved ones of those children for the release of this sensitive and confidential
ä See REPORT, page 7A
Cleco’s owners reach deal to sell company BY SAM KARLIN
State Rep. Annie Spell, R-Lafayette, reads the words of Martha Odom, the Lafayette high school senior who was killed in Thursday’s shooting. looks like,” Marcelle said. “It doesn’t have a party. It doesn’t have a color. It’s all about us coming together in unity.” Also on Monday, in a courthouse in downtown Baton Rouge, Markel Lee, 17, made his first appearance in court, three days after he was arrested on a count of first-degree murder, a count of illegal use of a
weapon and five counts of attempted murder. Commissioner Kory Tauzin rebuffed a request by Lee’s attorney Craig Stewart for a bail amount to be set on the first-degree murder charge. Steward emphasized that his client is still innocent until
ä See MEMORIAL, page 7A
Staff writer
The owners of Cleco Power have reached an agreement to sell the electric utility to Stonepeak Energy and Bernhard Capital Partners in a deal that will keep the firm headquartered in central Louisiana. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but Stonepeak, a New York investment firm, will own the majority interest upon closing, the companies said in a news release Monday. Stonepeak and Bernhard vowed to keep the company headquartered in Pineville and maintain its operating and employee footprint, amid concerns a sale could lead to the company’s exit
ä See CLECO, page 7A
John Fleming says he’s the most conservative candidate Louisiana treasurer touts connections to Trump BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer
Editor’s note: This story is the second in a series of profiles of major candidates in the U.S. Senate race, to be published over the coming days. Candidates for statewide office typically travel with a campaign aide who gets them from event to event. But state Treasurer John Fleming was on his own when he drove his car to the E.J. Ourso Col-
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clad students in his gray suit and tie. After finding the room, he didn’t mind walking U.S. SENATE back to his car to collect campaign brochures to pass out. ä COMING WEDNESDAY: JULIA LETLOW A few minutes later, he was back in Room 1800, telling 15 student members of Turning Point USA’s LSU chapter that he is a physician who lege of Business on LSU’s campus on a recent served in the Navy, helped co-found the ultraafternoon. And after he arrived, no staffer was conservative House Freedom Caucus during his eight years in Congress, held high-level posts waiting to direct him where to go. Fleming didn’t complain. He simply ap- during President Donald Trump’s first term and proached two students sitting at a table in the for the past 28 months has been the tight-fisted state treasurer. college. Along the way, he said, his record shows that “Can you tell me where I can find Room 1800 in the Business Education Complex?” asked Flemä See FLEMING, page 4A ing, standing out among the shorts-and-T-shirt-
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John Fleming
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