Louisiana Cops Arrested: Norris Greenhouse, Derrick Stafford Shot Autistic Boy Jeremy Mardis

Authorities had two Louisiana cops arrested on murder charges after the shooting of six-year-old Jeremy Mardis. Reports claim that police officers Norris Greenhouse Jr., 23, and Derrick Stafford, 32, shot the boy to death while pursuing the boy’s father, Christopher Few.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, the father was in critical condition after the shooting, and “Jeremy was shot a total of five times and received two fatal bullets to his torso as well as his head.” The death of the autistic boy set a record for the youngest 2015 victim killed during a police shooting. So far, 834 people have been shot and killed by American police officers in the year 2015.

Col. Mike Edmonson, head of the Louisiana State Police, has seen the video of the Jeremy Mardis shooting. He says the police body camera video from a third police officer was the key evidence which led to having the Louisiana cops arrested.

“That video was incredible,” Edmonson said. “I mean, as a father, much less head of the state police, I looked at that tape, I said this is incredibly disturbing.”

According to CBS, Norris Greenhouse Jr. and Derrick Stafford will not tell state police investigators why they pulled over Christopher Few in the first place. The third unnamed police officer says Few was not behaving in a threatening manner and the father did not have a gun the vehicle.

The cops who killed 6-year-old #JeremyMardis have an unreal rap sheet, incl aggravated rape https://t.co/NRQXa5fDRd pic.twitter.com/XfNFVNmfoh

— Keegan Stephan (@KeeganNYC) November 7, 2015

Earlier reports claimed that Few had warrants out for his arrest, but Edmonson says investigators are still uncertain why the two cops initiated the traffic stop in the first place.

“I think the rest of the investigation tells us that,” Edmonson said. “I mean, we’ve got to look at everyone involved, and we’ll get to the part of that, but what we learned from the very first night, what we heard an hour after that, was that they were trying to effect an arrest warrant on a traffic stop. Not factual. Not factual.”

Edmonson was asked if Chris Few could be blamed for causing the police shooting since the two arrested Louisiana cops initially claimed that Few tried to ram one of their police cars. The damage to the police car was apparently very minor, and Edmonson said, “It doesn’t seem from what we see because we don’t know why they were trying to chase him.”

One of the two Louisiana cops arrested may have had a personal grudge. Chris Few’s stepfather, Morris German, had accused the cops of firing on the vehicle earlier in the week.

Whatever the true motive may be for the police shooting, Jeremy Mardis’ death was claimed to be quick. The Avoyelles Parish coroner said the autistic boy was shot five times in the head, and once in the chest, out of the 18 shots fired by the two police officers.

“I can tell you he didn’t suffer,” Edmonson said. “He didn’t suffer, and his dad was near him, but he did not suffer.”

Jeremy Mardis’ funeral is scheduled for Monday afternoon at Moore Funeral Chapel at Moore Funeral Services in Hattiesburg, followed by burial in Beaumont Cemetery. Mardis’ grandmother said the family is very upset by the young boy’s death.

Jeremy was a special gift from God. He was always smiling always happy. He was diagnosed with autism when he was 2. He loved everyone he met and they loved him. As far as what caused his death, the only thing I have been told is he died from gun shot wounds. He didn’t deserve what happened. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Stafford and Greenhouse are being held at the Avoyelles Parish Detention Center. According to KCCI, they are being held in jail separately from the general jail population. Both men were charged with second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder.

[Image via Louisiana State Police]