Funeral arrangements set for 11-year-old Matthew Fortenberry, victim of shooting

The funeral service for Matthew Fortenberry, the 11-year-old boy who died in a shooting on March 16, has been set for Friday, the Baton Rouge Metro Council said. 

Matthew and several others had been held hostage in a car that night by a 17-year-old gunman who was trying to draw a relative out of a nearby home. Someone in the car started shooting, and the suspect shot at the car; Matthew was wounded and died at the hospital. The shooter was arrested.

Matthew, who was a student at Glen Oaks Park Elementary School, is survived by his parents, Michael Fortenberry and Francesca Isaac, three brothers and two sisters. 

The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, at the Wilson-Wooddale Funeral Home, at 1553 Wooddale Blvd.  Baton Rouge, LA 70806.

His repast will be at the Charles R. Kelly Community Center at 3535 Riley St., immediately following the service.

“The family is asking for your thoughts and prayers, as well as your help to stop the violence in our community,” the council said in a statement Wednesday. 

In recent weeks, city officials set up a fund for donations toward funeral expenses for Matthew. 

“Something’s got to happen, something’s got to stop, something’s got to change,” Matthew’s father, Michael Fortenberry said at a press conference with officials, after the death of his son. “I’m not the only father that’s probably going to be up here, probably not the last.”