HE BEAT THE POOR BOY TO D:E-ATH..! — 51-Year-Old Man Arrested for the m-u:rder Following Search Warrant In Missing Teen Ja’Derrius Minnieweather Case!
BATON ROUGE — Maurice Parms was arrested on Saturday for the murder of missing 15-year-old Ja’Derrius Minniweather, according to the Baton Rouge Police Department.
Minniweather had been missing since June 5, with multiple search efforts taking place across the city as residents, along with organizations such as the United Cajun Navy, searched for the teen from Ghost Town.
On Saturday morning, officers executed a search warrant at Parms’ residence, leading to a warrant being issued for his arrest.
Parms, 51, was originally arrested on June 10 after police found messages between him and a 16-year-old girl while investigating Minnieweather’s disappearance.
According to arrest documents, Parms referred to them being in a relationship, saying he “can’t wait until people can see what they have.” He also referred to his seven-year-old daughter as the girl’s “stepdaughter,” arrest documents said.
Parms was booked for first-degree murder.
On Saturday evening, BRPD Chief T.J. Morse said that Minnieweather’s body has not been found at this time. Morse said that following search warrants through different locations in Baton Rouge, they uncovered enough evidence to charge Parms with murder.
In a press release, the police department said evidence suggested Minnieweather was beaten to death and that his body was disposed of after the attack.
An arrest affidavit said that on June 4, Minnieweather rode his bike to see the person who filed the complaint in the case, a 16-year-old girl who was “long time friends” with Minnieweather. Officials said Minnieweather waited for the complainant, who was out getting food with Parms.
Detectives learned that a very tense disagreement between Minnieweather and Parms took place. This disagreement occurred over the way Parms was acting towards the complainant.
The affidavit noted an incident where a “very tall black male” was involved in an altercation with a “possibly small female with longer hair,” who the affidavit said fit the description of Minnieweather. It advised that the man was “beating the smaller person badly,” with the altercation going on for several minutes.
Arrest documents did not detail exactly where the altercation occurred.
The affidavit also says a “softer voice” begged the tall man to “leave them alone and stop hitting them.” Large, suspected bloodstains would later be found soaked into the area where the altercation happened.
After Parms was initially arrested on June 10, he told detectives that he was at Minnieweather’s residence at the same time as Minnieweather. However, he told detectives he was only there for a short time and went home, where he didn’t leave his home until he went to work in the morning.
Detectives found footage contradicting Parms’ statements with security footage showing Parms at home riding a “small kid’s bike from the scene of the crime.”
Security footage also showed a man walking from Parms’ residence, matching his body type, dragging a garbage can near the road, throwing the bike into some bushes, taking off a black mask, gloves and a t-shirt, and then throwing items into several garbage cans.
He would later retrieve those items and put them into his truck before wiping down the vehicle.
Detectives later tested stains at the scene of the fight and on Parms’ truck for blood. The area where Parms was seen wiping off blood was present, alongside other areas in the vehicle showing the presence of blood.
“Based on the above facts detectives believe that Minnieweather was caught in a confrontation with Parms where he was killed in this struggle,” the affidavit said. “It is believed that Parms stashed the body, that he threw away evidence, came back to retrieve evidence and possibly the victim’s body and transported them elsewhere in his mentioned vehicle.”
