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An 11-year-old boy allegedly confessed to killing an 82-year-old one-time mayor and his 31-year-old daughter, police in Louisiana said.
Police in Minden, about 30 miles east of Shreveport, responded to a call of shots fired around 6:30 a.m. on Sunday and found Joe Cornelius Sr. and Keisha Miles dead from multiple gunshot wounds at the former’s home.
Cornelius Sr. was a city councilman in Minden and had once been appointed interim mayor, according to KTAL.
The suspect, who is related to the victims, “confessed to the crime of murdering both,” Minden Police Chief Jared McIver said. No other information about the juvenile’s identity was released.
Neighbors told KSLA News 12 that they heard Cornelius and the boy arguing, possibly about credit card charges over video games.
Two handguns were found hidden at the house and shell casings near the bodies were the same caliber of those guns. McIver told NBC News the magazines were emptied on both weapons.
A 6-year-old who was also in the home was not wounded in the shooting.
No motive was given and no additional details were provided.
A neighbor told KSLA the suspect has autism but that was not confirmed by police.
“We’ve got a confession. But in these cases … it’s very delicate. When you’re dealing with a child of this age, you know, in their stage, we’re looking at, you know, was there motive, what was the motive?” McIver told KTBS. “It’s one of those things that we’ve still got a lot of unanswered questions.”
Along with being a city councilman and one-time mayor, Cornelius Sr. was a longtime community activist. He founded an organization that raised money for college scholarships and held events for children.
Kids in the town often referred to him as “the ice cream man” who would pass out free frozen treats during the summer.
“Joe Cornelius’s years of service to Minden were marked by his commitment and dedication to the betterment of our community,” Minden Mayor Nick Cox said in a statement. “Let us come together as a community to honor Joe’s memory and support one another through this time of grief.”