BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — City leaders announce the creation of a funeral expense fund for a child who was fatally shot on Thursday, March 16.
The child was identified as Matthew Fortenberry, 11. Baton Rouge police said the child’s family was held hostage before Fortenberry was shot on Crestway Avenue.
A BRPD spokesperson said the hostage happened after a 17-year-old suspect got into an argument with one of the child’s family members. The suspect then fired shots into a car where Fortenberry and other family members were sitting, police said. Fortenberry died of his injuries in the hospital.
A GoFundMe created for Fortenberry’s family reads, “He was a good kid loved by many. He was his mother’s best friend.”
The teenage shooting suspect was charged with first-degree murder, four counts of attempted first-degree murder, false imprisonment with a dangerous weapon and illegal discharge of a firearm.
The shooting remains under investigation.
District Attorney Hillar Moore previously said he plans on charging the 17-year-old as an adult.
Moore, Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome and Metropolitan Council member Darryl Hurst are announcing the expense fund on Wednesday, March 22 at 2 p.m.
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