Zachary Plainsman-Advocate 08-27-2025

Library closed for holiday

All locations of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library will be closed Monday Sept. 1 in observance of Labor Day Business expo coming

The Zachary Chamber of Commerce is hosting the Zachary Business Expo from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Americana YMCA Food trucks will be available from 11 a.m to 1:30 p.m. Vendors will be on hand to talk about business licensing, insurance, marketing and branding, computers, printing and more.

Buffalo Festival set

The Baker Buffalo Festival is Sept. 18-20 at Baker City Park, 3325 Groom Road. Parking is free. Live music, vendors, food trucks, a car show and more are planned. A parade float contest will be held.

Take a Walk in Baker

Desiree Odell-Collins and others in District 3 in Baker are hosting Let’s Take A Walk The next community walks are at 6 p.m. Sept. 11 and 25. Meet at redemption Life Fellowship, 2400 Debra Drive. Text (225) 954-3360 for location updated. SU Ag Center to host canning and preserving workshop

The Southern University Ag Center will host a fruits and vegetables canning and preserving workshop from 9 a.m. to noon, Sept. 11, in room 157 of Pinkie Thrift Hall on Southern University’s campus. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m.

The workshop will provide a hands-on introduction to the fundamentals of food preservation and canning. Participants will learn how to safely preserve seasonal produce, trends in food preservation, and the essential equipment During the workshop, participants will prepare fruit, pack a jar, and receive a jar of preserves to take home.

The workshop is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. To register, visit form.jotform. com/252096036998066.

Sound Radio hosting birthday concert

Sound Radio’s 40th Birthday Celebration/Concert is 5 p.m. Sept. 6 at Amite Baptist Church, 7100 Amite Church Road, Denham Springs. Local vocalists and musicians will be among the presentations. There is no admission charged at the door A love offering will be taken to support the Sound Radio ministry, which is based in Zachary Music includes The Right Road Quartet, Chronicle, the Cooksey Family Legacy, Mike Vaughn, Robbie Bass, the Barber Brothers, So Blessed Dennis Calmes, Charles Pierre and The Gospel Travelers, Ricky Lee, The Harrells, Marlon Arceneaux, Riverside Revival Band, Olabelle and Chuck White.

Email Leila Pitchford at lpitchford@theadvocate.com.

Plans to build reservoir halted

Proposal again faces stiff opposition

BY DAVID J MITCHELL Staff writer

Plans for a huge reservoir north of Baton Rouge to help keep the Amite River from flooding densely populated neighborhoods downstream have been sidelined by opposition from people who live in the countryside where it would be built.

Instead, the agency that revived the decades-old reservoir idea will focus on restoring curves in the Amite and keeping sediment out of the river, measures that could help scale down disasters like the widespread August 2016 flood, which damaged nearly 65,500 homes and thousands of businesses in East Baton Rouge, Livingston and Ascension parishes alone.

The agency the Amite River Basin Commission, hasn’t formally opposed the big reservoir in East Feliciana and St. Helena parishes.

But it has now agreed to add the East Feliciana Parish government’s latest objection to the idea in the commission’s new master plan, which includes the reservoir Paul Sawyer, executive director of the commission, said the action means the agency will be “laser focused” on other projects that it has money and support for, two elements he called “essential ingredients.” He said the reservoir idea has neither, even though research shows it would reduce flooding.

“What we have been saying even

before this became a household topic in East Feliciana and St. Helena is that we can’t do a project like this without the support and partnership of residents of East Feliciana and St. Helena,” Sawyer said “They have to be on board with this.”

The commission will proceed with $100 million in Amite projects funded through the Louisiana Watershed Initiative, the state-run, federally funded program prompted by the 2016 flood, as well as with a plan to restore parts of the Amite

to reduce downstream flooding.

It already has a deal in the works to buy more than 200 acres in St. Helena for the river restoration and hopes to finalize it soon.

The idea is to rehabilitate former gravel mining pits to restore natural curves along the middle and upper Amite and to find ways to prevent sediment from washing into the river A straighter river with heavier sediment loads is believed to worsen flooding downstream.

Gaining political momentum after the historic floods of 1983 and

then again in 2016 — the idea of a big reservoir has long been floated for the rural, hilly area north of Baton Rouge The preferred location has been a section of the Amite River in East Feliciana and St. Helena just west of the community of Darlington, which gave the concept its name.

Repeated analyses by the state and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have shown that the rolling topography there can be used to store water, reducing flooding by several feet in more populated, low-lying areas downstream.

Building the storage area, however would also mean permanently flooding tens of thousands of acres or greatly reducing their use, displacing people and potentially affecting businesses that rely on the land and the river

Chrissie O’Quin, the East Feliciana Police Jury vice president, delivered the parish government’s resolution of opposition to the reservoir to the Amite commission last month.

She said people don’t want to be forced to give up their land, particularly for a project they fear may bring unwelcome changes to a rural area.

“They enjoy that peaceful life up there,” she said.

Opponents have appeared at several meetings in recent months, including one at a church that drew

BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer

Four years ago, a Zachary father of four found his oldest daughter’s teenage boyfriend hiding in her closet after the boy climbed through the girl’s second-story bedroom window for a pre-dawn visit. When Dezmon Hamilton, 34, confronted the 17-year-old, it led to an exchange of gunfire between the two, and Hamilton was killed inside his home. Nicholas McQuirter the boyfriend, was indicted on a charge of second-degree murder two years later after his case was transferred from juvenile court to the 19th Judicial District Court On Aug. 12, McQuirter pleaded guilty to reduced charges and was Victim’s family unhappy with lack of prison time

BY FRANCES Y. SPENCER Contributing writer

poverty, hunger, hopelessness. Other heroes rise to the occasion where our society is unequipped or unaware. We call them pioneers, trailblazers, or if you are in the know in Baker, Miranda Georgetown-Riley The 2025 Baker Citizen of the Year

IMAGE PROVIDED BY AMITE RIVER BASIN COMMISSION

The so-called ‘bird’s foot’ reservoir proposal would have been built on the Amite River in northern St Helena and East Feliciana parishes and southern Mississippi near La. 432. Projected at more than $1 billion, the dam and reservoir would protect 13,000 downstream structures from inundation in a 100-year flood and reduce flooding for another 5,700. The proposal is one of three alternatives that the Amite River Basin Commission has proposed for an upstream dam, which has proven a controversial in the past

RESERVOIR

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more than 300 people.

O’Quin said she doesn’t take the commission’s acknowledgment of the parish’s ob-

to a reservoir as an

rejection of the idea. But she was pleased with the tenor at the commission’s meeting Wednesday and with what was said by its chairman, John Clark, an Iberville Parish representative.

“I just want to remind everybody that East Feliciana Parish is part of the Amite River Basin,” Clark said during the meeting, which was held in Livingston Parish. “They have a designated seat on our board, and they will always be represented here. Not to mention, East Feliciana Parish occupies a vast amount of river frontage along the Amite River compared to other parishes in the basin.”

Despite the official opposition in East Feliciana, one landowner has offered, as an alternative with willing sellers, a few thousand acres for a smaller reservoir Sawyer said conversations with that landowner haven’t gone forward.

Tried, and tried again

The reservoir has remained an alluring if difficult to realize idea for some because of its potential for flood reduction and economic impact.

After the devastating 1983 flood, the Corps suggested building the Darlington Reservoir along with the Comite River Diversion Canal. The canal, situated between Zachary and Baker and designed to reroute flood water to the Mississippi River, is now halfway built.

While the Comite Diversion has progressed in fits and starts over the past four decades, Darlington re-

mained mired in controversy over its cost-effectiveness, its impact and questions about weak soil under the proposed dam site.

After the 2016 flood, the Corps took another look at the idea but shifted from a permanent reservoir in Darlington to a so-called “dry dam” with a temporary storage area of 26,000 acres. That dam would have held back water only during floods but still would have forced buyouts of several thousand homeowners and required limits on using land for forestry and gravel mining. In 2023, faced with local opposition, the Corps ditched the $1.3 billion dam, citing the number of poor and minority households that would be displaced and concerns about weak soils causing the structure to catastrophically fail

The Corps shifted to a $1 billion home elevation and flood-proofing program downriver, but that idea hasn’t been welcomed by local officials because it won’t stop flood water

Newly revamped a few years ago by the Legislature, the Amite River commission, which had faced years of criticism over the slow pace of the Comite Diversion, was tasked with creating a longrange plan.

Finished this spring, it included a handful of reservoir concepts. Commission officials say they were mandated to look at the ideas despite long-standing opposition.

O’Quin, the East Feliciana police juror, recalled a recent conversation with someone who helped his parents fight the Darlington Reservoir in the ‘80s and ‘90s and has fought the more recent dam proposals.

“Are my children going to have to do this, too?” O’Quin said the man asked her “And my answer was, ‘Probably,’” she said.

Area Junior Angus members shine in summer contests

Community news report

Several area members of the Junior Angus group had top performances in various events.

The 2025 National Junior Angus Show Awards Ceremony was July 4 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Rory Forbes, of Zachary, won the intermediate division of photography-Angus cattle and placed fourth in the photography contest.

The 2025 Louisiana Angus Association annual meeting and banquet was June 18 in West Monroe.

The Louisiana Junior Angus Association Board of Directors was recognized.

Board members from the area include Lane Pellerin, reporter; Rory Forbes, vice president; and Hollis Pellerin, director, all of Zachary; Camryn Greene, president, of Slaughter; and Christian Corsentino, director, of Denham Springs.

Rory Forbes, of Zachary received her Bronze and Silver Awards and Lane Pellerin, of Zachary, received his Silver Award

the event.

Members of the Louisiana

Louisiana Angus Association

Banquet

They are, from left, front row, Lane Pellerin, Zachary, reporter; Eleanor Straney, Thibodaux, secretary; Addison Sibley, Pine Grove, second vice president; Rory Forbes, Zachary, vice president; and Camryn Greene, Slaughter, president; and back row, Amelia Straney, Thibodaux; Rylee Symons, Pearl River; Wyatt LeJeune, Elton; Olivia Shirley, Deridder; Emma LeJeune, Elton; Ryleigh Rister, Frierson; Michael Esneault, Plantenville; Christian Corsentino, Denham Springs; and Hollis Pellerin, Zachary.

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The Bronze and Silver Awards are the first two levels of the National Junior Angus Association Recog-nition Program. Juniors must apply for the awards and then meet point requirements in many areas of participation before receiving them.

Angus exhibitors led 96 entries at the 2025 Eastern Regional Junior Angus Show, June 19-22 in West Monroe.

Ben Forbes, of Zachary, won top honors in the senior showmanship division. Rory Forbes, of Zachary, won the intermediate B showmanship division.

Marcus Arnold, Mount Vernon, Missouri, evaluated the bred-and-owned and owned heifers, bred-and-owned bulls, cow/calf pairs, and steers and John McCurry, Burrton, Kansas, evaluated the phenotype and genotype females.

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sentenced to five years of probation.

The plea and sentencing came during an emotional hearing in a courtroom packed with family members of both the victim and McQuirter At least 10 deputies stood guard inside the courtroom to keep the two sides separated.

Afterward, Hamilton’s family expressed disappointment with an outcome that spared McQuirter of any prison time.

“Through this whole process, we have not received justice,” Danita Cage, the victim’s mother, said outside the courtroom. “We have not only lost a loved one, my grandkids have lost a provider and a father Someone that was supposed to be there for their graduations, their games, their weddings.”

McQuirter pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and illegal use of weapons on Tuesday The combined sentence for the two offenses ranged from 10 to 30 years, according to Judge Greggs.

Neither of the felony charges is considered a crime of violence, according to state law. Following the recommended terms of the plea deal that prosecutors and the defendant’s attorney negotiated, District Judge Colette Greggs deferred McQuirter’s prison stint under Article 893 of Louisiana’s criminal code, which allows courts to set aside prison sentences for noncapital felony offenses.

In addition to the five years of probation, Greggs ordered McQuirter to serve 100 hours of community service, get mental health and substance abuse evaluations and undergo any recommended treatments. She also placed McQuirter, now 21, on a nightly curfew and told him he is allowed to go out after 8 p.m. only for work, school, church or to complete his community service hours He is next expected to be in court Oct. 9 for a probation review

McQuirter’s trial was set to begin next week. Had a jury convicted him of second-degree murder, he faced a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole McQuirter’s Baton Rouge attorney, Ryan Beaulieu, maintained that the teen was invited to the home by his thengirlfriend and was defending himself when he shot and killed Hamilton McQuirter was also shot during the incident.

Beaulieu said McQuirter pleaded guilty in his best interest, unwilling to risk the possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars.

“This is a travesty on both sides of the fence. Anytime there’s a loss of life, no one wins,” the attorney said

Annual Meeting & Banquet. The Silver Award is the second level of the National Junior Angus Association Recognition Program. Juniors must apply for the awards and then meet point requirements in many areas of participation before receiving them.

PROVIDED PHOTO

after Tuesday’s hearing. “However, this was a matter where I believe justice was served because my client was acting in total self-defense.”

Memories of a loving father

Dezmon Jerome Hamilton was a Southern University grad with an entrepreneurial spirit. State records show he started several local businesses in East Baton Rouge Parish He was also a supervisor at the ExxonMobil lube station in Port Allen.

During Tuesday’s court proceedings, Hamilton’s children remembered him as a doting father and loving family man who was very active in their lives and instilled strong values like faith in God and hard work.

His youngest daughter, Dezire’ Hamilton, shed tears as she lamented the fact that he won’t be around to help guide her through her adolescent years and beyond.

“My dad was a very good father,” she said. “He wasn’t here when I went to middle school. He wasn’t here when I went to high school. I know he would’ve been right there beside me, but now he’s gone and I can never get him back. The memories I have of him are slowly fading away because someone took him away from me.”

Diamon Hamilton, the victim’s oldest daughter, gave the most powerful and emotionally jarring moments She recalled watching her father take his last breaths as she and her mother attempted to perform CPR to save him after the shooting. She disputed claims that Dezmon initiated the gun battle with acts of aggression toward her then-boyfriend.

“My dad would never even hurt a fly,” she said. “If my dad really had the intentions to hurt the defendant, why didn’t he do it once he first saw him in my closet?”

Facts of the case

Diamon told detectives she texted McQuirter, inviting him over around 6 a.m. on July 18, 2021. When he arrived, he propped a ladder against the house and climbed to the roof, then snuck in through her bedroom window while Dezmon was sleeping in another room, the police report stated.

Once inside, McQuirter took off his red hoodie, wrapped it up and put it in Diamon’s closet. Moments later, an irate Dezmon Hamilton began beating on his daughter’s door When she opened it, he was standing there in his boxer shorts armed with a gun, the girl told detectives. Dezmon ordered the boy to grab his things and escorted him to the living room area downstairs, according to Diamon’s statements to detectives.

Once downstairs, Dezmon called Diamon’s mother and her maternal grandmother and told them to rush to the house. The two women arrived about 20 minutes later, and tempers

flared as they disciplined the girl and confronted McQuirter about sneaking into the house, reports state. But Diamon’s mother said she pulled her daughter and mother out of the living room to calm things down and told Dezmon to deal with the situation. As Diamon and the two women were walking into an adjacent hallway, they told detectives they heard multiple gunshots ring out. When they rushed back into the living room, they saw Dezmon and McQuirter both on the floor, bleeding. Dezmon was sliding down a couch near the kitchen stool where McQuirter had been seated The teenage boy was army crawling across the hallway floor, clutching a pistol as he shouted that Dezmon shot him, the report stated. Police officers recovered a Glock pistol on a couch sitting atop McQuirter’s hooded sweatshirt, detectives said. Another Glock that had been reported stolen was lying near McQuirter’s outstretched hands, according to an arrest affidavit.

Detectives questioned Diamon, her mother and grandmother Neither of the women said they saw Dezmon holding a pistol when they exited the living room. Diamon said it had been tucked in the shorts he was wearing. According to the report, Diamon said she believed McQuirter secretly stashed a gun in his red hoodie, although she never saw him holding it. She said she believed McQuirter fired at Hamilton first, detectives stated. Cage, the victim’s mother, said the family wanted to take the case to trial. East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore released a statement on Wednesday responding to questions about prosecutors’ decision to offer McQuirter the plea deal:

“While the state could prove that Nicholas McQuirter shot and killed Mr Hamilton, we could not establish beyond a reasonable doubt who was the aggressor,” he said. “Forensic evidence, including ballistic and trajectory analysis, could not provide the answer as to whether or not McQuirter acted in self-defense While there were eyewitnesses to what happened at the house prior to the shooting, no one actually saw McQuirter and Mr Hamilton fire their weapons and McQuirter declined to make a statement to law enforcement officers.

“We met personally with the Hamilton family on multiple occasions and are deeply aware of the pain this family continues to endure,” he continued. “The plea agreement reflects the limits of what could be proven at trial, not the value of Mr. Hamilton’s life. The risk of pursuing a murder conviction and securing no conviction at all would have been a total miscarriage of justice.”

Email Matt Bruce at matt.bruce@ theadvocate.com.

‘Absolute studs’ named to Zachary High Hall of Fame

The Zachary Hall of Fame honors Zachary High and former Northwestern High School (1955 -1970) athletic greats The Hall of Fame will welcome two inductees in a ceremony at the Zachary athletic complex at 6 p.m. Sept. 11. The honorees will also be recognized Sept 12 at halftime of the ZHS v. Acadiana football game. Their pictures will be placed on display in the athletic center and their names inscribed on the Walk of Honor sign in front of Zachary High School. Previous Hall of Fame members are invited to welcome the latest group of honorees. Coach David Brewerton refers to the two nominees in the 2025 class as “absolute studs.”

400m (setting a Class 5A and Composite State Meet record), 110m hurdles, 200m and as a member of the 4x100m relay team. He was an integral point scorer for the 2018 ZHS Boys Outdoor State Championship team. Sean continued his dominance in the 400m and 200m in 2019 with a state record in the 200 and third straight 4x100m relay state championship. In a COVID-shortened senior year Burrell won Indoor State Championships in the 60m hurdles, 400m, 4x200m relay and 4x400m relay The 4x400m relay team Burrell anchored set a field house composite record of 3:22.68.

Zachary Broncos take on Yellow Jackets during home scrimmage

This week’s spotlight is on inductee Sean Burrell, a 2020 cum laude ZHS graduate, who played football for Brewerton and competed in track and field for coach Chris Carrier On the football field, Burrell played both offense (wide receiver) and defense (secondary) over his career but was also critical to special teams as a returner (punts and kicks) and as a punter His fake punt touchdown on a bad leg in the 2018 playoffs is legendary in Zachary football lore. The Broncos Hall of Fame night opponent knows Burrell very well after he put up doubledigit tackles as a safety in the Broncos 26-14 road victory over the Wrecking Rams in a quarterfinal playoff matchup in 2018. Burrell’s efforts made him a critical component of state championship football teams in 2017 and 2018. On the track, Burrell was, simply put, “blazing.” As a freshman he was both an individual state champion in the 400-meter and a member of the 4x100m state champion relay team. His sophomore year, Burrell added five more state championships winning both the indoor and outdoor

Sean was named the Advocate Star of Stars Track Athlete of the Year in 2018 and 2019, the Boys Gatorade Track and Field Louisiana Athlete of the Year in 2019 and 2020 and the ESPY Louisiana Male Athlete of the Year in 2020. After graduation, Burrell took his considerable talents to LSU where he competed in track and field while earning a bachelor’s degree in sports administration and is working on his master’s degree.

For the Tigers, Burrell continued to make his mark as a twotime NCAA National Champion, two-time Olympic Trial participant, LSWA Men’s Track Athlete of the Year, multiple times on the SEC Academic Honor Roll and member of the 2022 LSU National Championship Team

He has posted top 10 all-time LSU performances in the 400m hurdles, indoor 400m and as a member of the 4x400m relay team. Next week the second member of the 2025 class will be described. Here is a hint: He was also a “Ram hunter.” Warren Brady covers sports for The Plainsman. He can be contacted at zachary@ theadvocate.com.

Bruce Craft and Lisa Kiriakos, owners of Couillon Cluckers Petting Zoo add to the play and learning experience May 24 during an equestrian playdate at GaitWay Therapeutic Horsemanship as CarsynGrace Panu makes friends with one of their rabbits.

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Georgetown-Riley, the mother of neurodivergent children, became the resource, the support or the community advocate she and her family needed if a resource was rare or nonexistent.

Play, as much as learning is a valuable part of child development. While many people realize that children on the autism spectrum learn differently, a void often exists because they also play differently Georgetown-Riley and a group of supporters formed the Magnolia Rose Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to autism acceptance and the refinement of organized play opportunities. The bond of best friends is key to the foundation. Georgetown-Riley met her lifelong best friend at Ms. Peggy’s Dance Studio when she was 6 years old. Years later, while they were both expecting baby girls, they vowed to let Esther and Magnolia Rose bond as besties and they even had prebirth playdates.

Watching the babies interact helped show the unique difference “We could tell that there was something different about Magnolia in how she played and interacted with Esther, but that has never stopped their blossoming friendship,” Georgetown-Riley said. “It is our determination that they grow and learn from each other — differences are beautiful.”

The Magnolia Rose Foundation was started by Georgetown-Riley and Roderick Riley and it now has a board that helps to create inclusive play dates for all children so that they might learn from each other through play Siblings and friends who are neurotypical are welcome to experience a movie, museum or even go horseback riding.

The Rileys coordinate the events while ensuring a safe, enjoyable time for their neurotypical children, Magnolia Rose, 6, and JamesDavid, 3, and 1-year-old Dimitri.

“Most of the time they like to play tag or running games with other kids,” Georgetown-Riley said. “They have their own little imagination, and sometimes they just want to sit and play next to a child. We want kids who are neurotypical as well as the neurodivergent child to come together in a safe place, safe place where they can play and learn about each other’s differences, so that neurotypical child can understand, ‘Hey, my friend might not necessarily want to play with me, but they’re okay with playing next to me.’”

The goal: “Normalizing Autism in Children, One Play Date at a Time” is lofty and not just a day in the park. The foundation is an organized fundraising vehicle and that helps ensure no children are charged fees and sponsors will sometimes supplement costs for adults. A playdate at the end of

the school year featured a trip to GaitWay Therapeutic Horsemanship in St.Gabriel and Livingston Parish’s Couillon Cluckers Petting Zoo. Learning and play commingled as children were able to experience animals as massive as therapy horses and as tiny as fluffy bunnies. The ambassador turned Citizen of the Year is most impressed by the number of families touched and the walls broken down toward autism acceptance. “Most people don’t realize that autism isn’t a ‘disability,’ it’s a ‘different ability,’” she said. “The vision of the Magnolia Rose Foundation is to teach inclusion and encourage the acknowledgement of developmental differences and for children of all ages and abilities to connect through play and education.“ For information, visit the foundation at https://themrf.org.