Joseph Profit

Joseph Profit, a 48-year-old Black man, was killed in a shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on June 27, 2023. His death was part of a violent chain of events that unfolded across the city on that summer afternoon.

Around 4:20 p.m., police responded to a call at a home in the 1000 block of Townsley Street near Scenic Highway. Inside, they discovered Joseph Profit, who had been shot multiple times. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A second victim, 52-year-old Robin Hayes, was also found with gunshot wounds. Hayes was rushed to a local hospital, where she later succumbed to her injuries.

The investigation into the double homicide began with no immediate suspects or motive. The shooting was the second deadly incident in the area within two hours; less than a mile and a half away, a man named Derrick Thomas had been shot and killed. At first, police did not believe the two cases were connected. Homicide detectives from the Baton Rouge Police Department looked into the victims' histories, noting a past domestic altercation between Profit and Hayes in which he had been accused of hitting her with a can of chili.

Months later, the investigation revealed that the two shootings were linked. On September 19, 2023, authorities arrested 37-year-old Derrick Coleman, the son of Derrick Thomas, the first man killed that day. According to arrest documents, Coleman believed Profit was responsible for his father’s death. Police reports noted that body camera footage from the scene of Thomas's murder showed Coleman appearing to be in a rage.

Derrick Coleman was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison and charged with two counts of first-degree murder and illegal use of a weapon in the deaths of Joseph Profit and Robin Hayes. However, the state later dropped the murder charges against him.

As of September 2023, the case remains unsolved. Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 344-STOP (7867).