KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana |Two arrested for hate crime

Two arrested for hate crime

August 8, 2005
Reported by Pam Dixon

Lake Charles police have arrested two people in connection with last month's violent attack on two crew members with the movie "Little Bayou." Police are looking for a third person. Detectives believe the attack was a racially motivated-- black on white-- hate crime.

It was around two a.m. July 22nd when an out of town producer and assistant director on the "Little Bayou" movie were beaten and robbed by a mob of eight people near Broad and Bilbo Streets. Now thanks to tips from the community, two of those eight are in police custody arrested for a hate crime, a charge that carries a stiffer penalty.

"We were told by at least one of the defendants that these people were quote "targeted because they were white" end quote, and that brings a lot of concern on our part of any race that's targeted specifically because of their race alone," said Sgt. Mark Kraus with the Lake Charles Police Department. Detectives believe at least three of the eight people were involved in the actual attack.

The two arrested so far are 31 year old Janice Denise Davis, who has an extensive criminal history, and 19 year old Christopher Demond Jones both of Lake Charles. Both are booked with armed robbery and second degree robbery. "After the beating and after the initial contact was made, then they upped the ante and tried to gain something tangible and valuable out of it, and that's when the armed robbery took place," said Kraus.

The search is on for a third person involved in the attack. If convicted, the suspects could face 99 years in prison for armed robbery, another 40 years for second degree robbery and an extra five years for a hate crime. Davis and Jones are both being held in the Calcasieu jail on 200-thousand dollar bonds.

The weapon believed to be used in the armed robbery was a six foot long stick.