51-year-old man accused of beating missing 15-year-old boy to death, police say

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB/Gray News) - A 51-year-old man is accused of beating a missing 15-year-old boy to death in Louisiana, authorities said.

Maurice Parms, was arrested Saturday on a count of first-degree murder in connection with the death of 15-year-old Ja’Derrius Minnieweather.

Police said evidence suggests Minnieweather was beaten to death and his body was disposed of after the attack.

The warrant says Minnieweather went to see a 16-year-old girl before he disappeared. Detectives said the friend had been out getting food with Parms before returning to the area.

Investigators said a tense disagreement then happened between Minnieweather and Parms over the way Parms was acting toward the 16-year-old girl.

Detectives wrote in the warrant that witnesses described seeing a tall man beating a smaller person for several minutes. The warrant also says a softer voice was heard begging the person to stop and to leave them alone.

Large suspected bloodstains were later found in the area where the attack allegedly happened.

Detectives wrote that surveillance video showed a person matching Parms’ body type riding a child’s bicycle, discarding a mask, gloves and a T-shirt, then later returning to retrieve those items.

Investigators said Parms was also seen wiping areas of his truck with a rag.

According to the warrant, suspected stains at the scene tested positive for blood. Investigators said processing of Parms’ truck also showed the presence of blood in the area he was allegedly seen wiping, as well as in other areas of the vehicle.

The warrant says investigators believe Parms stashed Minnieweather’s body, threw away evidence, returned to retrieve evidence and possibly the body, then transported the evidence and possibly the body elsewhere in his vehicle.

Parms was previously arrested on June 10 on counts of indecent behavior with juveniles and computer-aided solicitation of a minor. According to the arrest warrant, those charges stemmed from evidence detectives discovered while investigating Minnieweather’s disappearance.

The warrant says detectives found evidence of an inappropriate relationship between Parms and a 16-year-old girl, who was described as a longtime friend of Minnieweather.

Minnieweather had been missing since Friday, June 5. He was last seen about 2 a.m. in Baton Rouge.

At this time, his body has not been found.