A man arrested in a fatal shooting on Alliquippa Street earlier this month was already wanted for a bail violation in a different crime after he failed to keep his ankle monitor charged and did not check in with the company that issued the device as required, court documents reveal.
The case is the latest in a string of arrests that have frustrated local law enforcement leaders, who say a high number of shootings within East Baton Rouge Parish are committed by people who have already been arrested for recent violent offenses.
According to a BRPD spokesman, Rashawn Alexander, 20, had previously been booked on different charges and was out on bond at the time he killed 35-year-old Nicholas Williams, whose body was found under the carport of a home on Alliquippa Street March 5.
Prior to Alexander's arrest on March 22, the spokesman said, both Baton Rouge police and the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office had been searching for him for several months. The spokesman added that both agencies believe Alexander to be involved in multiple other unsolved crimes.
In a motion filed March 24 to revoke bond for Alexander, the document lays out his lengthy arrest record, starting with his arrest in November 2020 for possession of stolen things and possession of a stolen firearm. His bond at the time was set at $4,000.
The following year, in September 2021, Alexander was arrested again, this time on charges including domestic abuse battery. His bond was set at $3,000 with special conditions that he have no contact with the victim, refrain from criminal conduct and that he not be released without a protective order in place.
In May 2022, Alexander was arrested a third time on counts that included illegal possession of a stolen firearm and violation of a protective order. His bond was set at $22,000 by Judge Tiffany Foxworth Roberts on the conditions that he be drug tested, obey a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and not possess a firearm.
Foxworth Roberts also required that Alexander be under the supervision of Criminal Tracking Services, LLC, a Baton Rouge-based company that provides ankle monitoring devices and other tracking software.
According to the motion, Foxworth Roberts received a letter from CTS five months later informing the court that Alexander was not in compliance with the conditions of his bond. Particularly, CTS investigator Frederick Hall said Alexander did "not call to check in with CTS as required, does not keep his ankle monitor charged and does not take supervision seriously."
In January, the state filed a subpoena requiring CTS to hand over records of Alexander's violations between December 2022 and January 2023. The records demonstrated "numerous instances of the ankle monitor having low battery and being taken off and put back on," the motion states.
That same month, EBRSO issued an arrest warrant for Alexander for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and violation of a protective order. He was later booked by BRPD on counts of first-degree murder, carrying a concealed weapon by a person convicted of certain felonies and distribution and possession of marijuana.
Local leaders have often criticized low bonds for certain offenders, arguing that it can make it easy for them to commit crimes again not long after they're first booked into jail.
During a speech at the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge last week, BRPD chief Murphy Paul described an incident a day earlier in which his officers arrested a man who allegedly tried to shoot someone just days after he had posted bail for another violent offense.
The department is "dealing with the same people over and over and over," Paul said.
But advocates pushing to change Baton Rouge's bail system have countered the notion of raising bonds, saying that the practice unfairly targets people of color and those with low incomes – particularly in East Baton Rouge Parish, where the average wait time for an arraignment hearing can last between five and 12 weeks.
In many cases, people who can't afford their bond end up languishing in jail, sometimes losing jobs, housing or even custody of their children, making it difficult for them to get back on their feet and shifting much of the financial burden onto family members, advocates say.
Still, some officials say something needs to be done.
Following a mass shooting at an off-campus fraternity house near Southern University last October, East Baton Rouge's District Attorney Hillar Moore III called for the suspect to be held without bond after it was revealed 22-year-old Jaicedric Williams had been let out twice within a month-long period on separate domestic violence and attempted robbery charges. Arrest documents show Williams was awaiting trials in both cases at the time he allegedly shot into the crowd of students, injuring 11 people in the midst of homecoming week festivities.
Williams' bond was later set at $1.9 million.
Weeks before the fraternity shooting, another man accused of murder who was out of jail on bond was arrested again, accused of a drive-by shooting that left one person injured.
The suspect, Luke Simmons, 39, had previously been arrested on counts of second-degree murder and illegal use of a dangerous weapon in the December 2021 shooting death of 41-year-old Lance Robertson.
Editors note: This story has been updated to reflect the fact that Rashawn Alexander was out on bail at the time he allegedly killed Nicholas Williams.