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Police arrest suspect in killing of 80-year-old man sitting on Avenue E porch
BATON ROUGE — Baton Rouge Police said they arrested a man on Friday for allegedly shooting and killing an 80-year-old man while he was sitting on his porch.
Police said that they arrested Daniel Westley for the first-degree murder of 80-year-old James Williams.
Williams was shot and killed Tuesday while sitting on his front porch on Avenue E. Police say the alleged gunman, later identified as Westley, came to the house and fatally shot Williams.
"He was driving a vehicle, got out the car, walked up to the porch, shot Mr. Williams, got back in his car and left," BRPD spokesperson L'Jean McKneely said.
According to an arrest affidavit, Westley was being detained by the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office in an unrelated investigation due to an active order that Westley be examined for mental illness or substance abuse. Due to that order of protective custody, he was transported to Our Lady of the Lake.
Williams, a man known by neighbors as Uncle Pig, was described as a generous man.
Williams' niece, Dina Williams Davis, is still processing the loss of her uncle and says she had never seen Westley at the house. She feels not only hurt but also confused that someone from their community was behind his death.
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"It really hasn't hit me because I don't understand why the guy did what he did. He never bothered a soul in the community; if he didn't feed you or help you, he didn't do anything to you," Davis said.
"He was a really good man with many friends, a community person who fed anyone and took care of everyone, so it still hurts," she said.
And it was Williams' community that pushed for the arrest of his suspected killer in just a few days.
"He would've done the same thing for them if something happened to someone else; that's just the way we lived, the way we were born, the way we were raised," Davis said.
Davis stated that while their Uncle Pig is gone, it will not stop the house under the tree at Avenue E from being a place of healing.
According to police, Westley has been previously arrested for a 2012 homicide and a kidnapping and has an extensive criminal record.
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