Two-year-old Azariah Christien Thomas was killed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on the evening of Thursday, October 15, 2020, when a gunman opened fire on a home on West Upland Street. The child was struck inside the residence and later died at a hospital. Azariah’s father is a police officer in nearby New Roads.

Police say the shooting was part of a violent spree by Kendrick Myles. Earlier that evening he had broken into another home and shot a man, and he had kidnapped a nine-year-old child who was later found unharmed. After an hours-long standoff, law enforcement arrested Myles; he was charged with second-degree murder, six counts of attempted second-degree murder, home invasion, and aggravated kidnapping of a child.

What details about that night or about Azariah’s life might help explain how this crime unfolded?