A family gathering in La Place, Louisiana ended in a fatal burst of violence on Friday, October 4, 2024. Ron Oneal Tate, a 50-year-old Black man, and his 11-year-old niece, Sa'Miya McClain, were struck and killed by gunfire while preparing for a toddler’s birthday at Tate’s home. A young woman in the house was grazed and survived.

Surveillance footage shows two gunmen hiding behind bushes and a parked car before firing at a person walking in front of Tate’s residence; that intended target escaped unharmed. Bullets entered the house and struck Tate and Sa’Miya. The shooting reportedly followed an altercation at a high school football game earlier that evening, where the suspects allegedly pistol-whipped a woman and were later assaulted by her friends, prompting a retaliatory search for the original assailants.

The St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office used parish crime-camera footage to track movements before and after the shooting. Authorities identified and, the following morning, arrested Cartez Foster, 23, of LaPlace, and Patrick Maxon, 26, of Norco; both were booked on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder.

If anyone has information about the shooting or knew Ron Oneal Tate or Sa’Miya McClain, please come forward.