Joseph Profit, a 48-year-old Black man, was shot and killed inside a home in the 1000 block of Townsley Street near Scenic Highway in Baton Rouge on June 27, 2023. Police were called about 4:20 p.m.; Profit had been shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene. A second victim, 52-year-old Robin Hayes, was also found with gunshot wounds and later died at a hospital.

The afternoon produced a second, separate fatal shooting less than a mile and a half away when Derrick Thomas was killed. Homicide detectives initially treated the incidents as unrelated but later linked them. Detectives reviewed histories of the victims and noted a prior domestic altercation in which Profit was accused of hitting Hayes with a can of chili.

On September 19, 2023, 37-year-old Derrick Coleman, son of Derrick Thomas, was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder and illegal use of a weapon; authorities said Coleman believed Profit was responsible for his father’s death. The state later dropped the murder charges. As of September 2023 the deaths remain unsolved. If anyone has information about the shooting, contact Crime Stoppers at 344-STOP (7867).