Colby Stokes, Washington Parish, Louisiana man confesses to gunning down his parents and killing them after domestic dispute. Victims id as Beverly and Carley Stokes.
A 23 year old Louisiana man was arrested after confessing to neighbors to gunning down his grandparents.
Colby Stokes allegedly shot Beverly and Carley Stokes Wednesday afternoon and then walked to a neighbors house and confessed to the crime, Washington Parish Sheriff Jason Smith said, according to the Louisiana Radio Network.
‘Its kind of a domestic dispute that escalated to the point where now it’s not recoverable. and the extended family is going to be dealing with the consequence of this for a long time,’ Smith said.
Ongoing struggles with drug abuse and mental health issues
The neighbor called 911, with the grandson also confessed to responding deputies, WWL reported.
Beverly Stokes was taken to a hospital, where she died, and Carley Stokes was pronounced dead at the scene.
Stokes was initially charged with two counts of second degree murder, but the charges were upgraded to first degree murder on Thursday.
He is also facing charges of cruelty to animals, being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, and aggravated second-degree battery, WDSU reported.
Smith noted that he’d suffered from mental health issues as well as drug and alcohol abuse and said that such circumstances leading to murders aren’t uncommon in the parish, the Louisiana Radio Network stated.
‘We have a large segment of our population that struggles with drug abuse and mental health issues,’ the official said.
‘He’s been in and out of jail,’ Smith said. In 2018, Stokes was arrested for a burglary, in which multiple firearms were stolen. He was 17 at the time.
Stokes also confessed to deputies, WWL reported.
It remained unclear if the grandson was living with the victims at the time of the shooting murders. The whereabouts of Stokes’ parents was not known.
No known motive for the gun violence was immediately known.
Washington Parish, LA is described as rural land. As of 2020 census, the population was 45,463.
