Minden boy, 11, arrested for allegedly killing man, daughter
City of Minden releases statement confirming male victim was a former city official
MINDEN, La. (KSLA) - A 11-year-old boy has been arrested for allegedly admitting to fatally shooting two people.
“Sad, everybody is sad,” one Minden resident said.
“It makes my heart bleed,” said another. “It makes me sad how a little 10-year-old kid can get a gun.”
On Sunday (Sept. 1) at 6:30 a.m., the Minden Police Department (MPD) responded to a report that two bodies were inside a house on Austin Street. Officers found two people with multiple gunshot wounds.
“About eight gunshots. Pow, pow, pow and then pow, pow, pow,” one neighbor recalled hearing.
The church service right across the street was canceled at 8 a.m. Sunday out of respect for the family.
The investigation led to the arrest of a 11-year-old who reportedly was brought in by a guardian and confessed to the deaths of 82-year-old Joe Cornelius Sr. and his daughter 31-year-old Keisha Miles.
Police said that they are still in the early stages of their investigation and that the child has shown no remorse so far.
“Now people, I understand, and here is something I have to say, everyone grieves differently. But I think we all know what grieving looks like and what it should look like and I just, you know, didn’t see it,” Minden Police Chief Jared McIver said.
Cornelius was confirmed to be a former Minden city councilman and a former interim mayor.
“He was highly respected in the community,” the neighbor said. “He was with the sheriff’s department. He was mayor for a little bit. He used to work at the funeral home and stuff like that. He was a good man; he was a good man.”
According to neighbors, an argument broke out between Cornelius and the 11-year-old about credit card charges over video games.
“I think that’s what happened. He was arguing with him; I heard them hollering and stuff,” the neighbor said.
“That was my cousin. I hate that that happened. Over a game.
“I don’t think that was right. The boy was autistic, he had autism.
“And Joe got to arguing with him. The boy just pulled a gun out. I mean, Joe used to be a sheriff, so he has guns because he worked for the sheriff’s department and the boy know where it was. It’s a sad thing.”
Police have not confirmed the nature of the argument nor whether the boy has autism. “There is a lot of questions as to the why. There has been rumors put out, but none of those has been confirmed,” the police chief said.
“I think you see that a very wide variety of our citizens is deeply moved by this situation,” Minden Mayor Nick Cox told KSLA on Monday (Sept. 2). “We’re just so heartbroken that this happened to someone that we cared about so much. And you do see a lot of support of one another and kindness to one another and just positive memories being shared amongst the citizens of Minden.”

The previous day, the mayor posted the following on Facebook:
*Update on Tuesday: the boy, who was originally reported to be 10 years old by Minden Police has now been confirmed 11 years old*
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