CBS 42

‘He was being honorable’: Louisiana teen dies after trying to protect woman

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Now, police are charging the man who allegedly attacked him with murder.

On May 8th, At approximately 2:08 in the morning in a parking lot, 18-year-old Hayes Sellers stepped in when he saw a woman being yelled at in a parking lot.

The two men that were involved were 20-year-old Edmond Revelle and 20-year-old Jayce Lambert.

The Baton Rouge Police Department says Revelle was arrested on a murder charge for his involvement in the death of Sellers. Police said Revelle used his fist to hit Sellers after Sellers tried to stop a fight.

According to BRPD Sergeant L’Jean McKneely, he says that Sellers “was just trying to make a difference, and that’s not a bad thing, but it’s an unfortunate thing that happened.”

“He was actually out there being a positive citizen trying to deescalate a situation from escalating,” McKneely added.

Unfortunately, the situation escalated and took a wrong turn.

“Mr. Revelle punched him, thus knocking him out and when he fell he had a head injury,” said McKneely.

Officers responding to a call about an unresponsive male led Sellers to the hospital for a week. He later passed away from a critical head injury. The East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner ruled Sellers’ death as a homicide.

“So, I can’t say if he was doing the right or wrong thing but he was being honorable,” said McKneely.

Prior to Sellers’ death, McKneely says that Revelle was able to bond out of parish prison for his first charge of second-degree battery. BRPD upped Revelle’s charges to second-degree murder on Wednesday when he turned himself in to the police.

As of right now, a bond has not yet been set for Revelle.