Authorities search Baton Rouge landfill in missing teen murder case

Baton Rouge authorities have turned the search for 15-year-old Ja'Derrius Minnieweather into a homicide recovery operation after investigators found evidence that he was beaten to death and his body may have been hauled to a landfill with routine trash. Police Chief T.J. Morse said the site is now being treated as an active crime scene, with crews expected to begin searching around July 13.

Minnieweather was last seen around 2 a.m. on June 5 wearing black sweatpants, a gray-and-black Jordan shirt and red Nike slippers, and his family reported him missing on June 6. He had recently started working at Istrouma High School through a city summer work program and was looking forward to his second paycheck. His grandmother, Jawanna Brooks, described him as a hardworking teen who loved being with family, while relatives pushed for answers during public searches.

The case shifted from a missing-person report to a murder probe after surveillance video contradicted statements Maurice Parms gave detectives. Parms, 51, was arrested and booked on a first-degree murder charge. Police found large bloodstains at the scene and blood evidence in Parms’ truck. The arrest affidavit says Minnieweather rode his bike on June 4 to meet a 16-year-old girl who was a longtime friend, and a witness later reported seeing a very tall Black man beating a smaller person that night.

The landfill search is expected to center on the East Baton Rouge Parish North Landfill at 16001 Samuels Rd. in Baton Rouge, a sprawling site covering more than 400 acres and receiving about 1,600 tons of solid waste a day. Mayor-President Sid Edwards said the FBI had been contacted to help because the task would be exceptionally difficult, and officials do not know whether Minnieweather’s body will be recovered.

Searchers, including residents, volunteers and the United Cajun Navy, had already spent days combing areas off Scenic Highway and near the levee before the investigation moved to the landfill. Hillar Moore praised the work investigators have done so far, while defense attorney Franz Borghardt said murder cases without a body are rare but possible.