This past weekend saw another round of violence with two murders and a death investigation following the discovery of a body.
The first murder occurred on Saturday evening, and like the two murder incidents last week, it involved a licensed firearm.
30-year-old Damion Baptist spent the day in Grace Bank with a woman he'd recently started seeing. As they were headed to his home in Burrell Boom, her ex-boyfriend began pursuing them on the highway, firing off gunshots.
While it is unclear exactly who his target was, Baptist was killed by a single bullet to the head.
Today we spoke with his mother, as well as the woman whose life may still be in danger. Courtney Menzies has this story.
This video was taken moments before 30-year-old Damion Baptist was shot dead while driving on the highway.
He was in this red Ford Fusion with 29-year-old Laneedrah Dawson, whom he had just started dating last month. Dawson's ex-boyfriend, 35-year-old Jamie Young began chasing them from Maxboro to Ladyville in this pickup truck, now in police custody.
Young eventually fired two shots from his licensed firearm, one of which killed Dawson. His mother said she spoke to him just before the chase began.
Voice of: Shelmadine Baptist, Mother of Deceased
"I spoke to him minutes before the incident because he called and said he was coming home, he said, mommy I'm on my way home. And I told him, how far away are you? And he said, I'm right by Maxboro, he said I'll reach soon. I said, okay. I hung up the phone and then he didn't call or come. I guess it was right there that the incident happened cause he told me he was in Maxboro."
Voice of: Laneedrah Dawson, Girlfriend of Deceased
"We spent the day here, it was my nephew's birthday. Everything was going well, we left, we passed Mr Young's house, we stopped at my grandmother, spent 5 minutes the most at my grandmother's and we went, we were going to his house in Boom. And after we passed Maxboro junction on that long stretch it all became so crazy, hectic. Mr Young was driving the opposite direction towards us, he was at his home when we passed him so he had to leave when I stopped at my grandmother's house. He ran us off the road, cranked his gun at us, pushed his hand out the window and cranked it at us. Mr Baptist sped up, he was like, we need to reach the police station. We called the police station, we told them we were coming under speed because they were tailing us, firing shots. We crashed into that lamppost and no police was in sight."
The first shot his the passenger side window. That's when Baptist told Dawson to put the seat back and to stay low. However, the pair met traffic near Tubal Institute, causing them to drive on the shoulder of the highway. It wasn't long after that that the final bullet was shot.
Voice of: Laneedrah Dawson, Girlfriend of Deceased
"When we reached by the RC school, the next bullet went off and the next thing I knew, we were driving into the lamppost. That's when I looked over and I saw Mr Baptist's head down, and that was it."
Voice of: Shelmadine Baptist, Mother of Deceased
"My daughter called me and she told me, she said, mommy, I said what happened? She said, where are you? I said, I'm coming with your brother. She said, mommy, he doesn't look good. So I said, how you mean he doesn't look good? She said, mommy he got shot in his head and the pulse is very weak. So I said, okay we're on our way. And I think the Boom Bridge, or little bit across the Boom Bridge, she called me back and said he died, she said, mommy, he's gone."
But why did Young go after them? According to Dawson, she and Young ended their 13 year relationship last year. Since then, she said he's been stalking her.
Voice of: Laneedrah Dawson, Girlfriend of Deceased
"Mr Baptist was at the wrong place at the wrong time because everywhere I go, that young man follows. Everywhere I go he follows, every time I pass his house, I bet I look in the mirror, he will be behind a good five, ten minutes afterwards."
"We knew the situation, Mr Baptist knew the situation so we were always looking behind and hoping just always being careful."
Courtney Menzies:
"Have you tried, you said you made reports, did you try for a restraining order in the past?"
Voice of: Laneedrah Dawson, Girlfriend of Deceased
"Yes, our court date would have been on Wednesday of this week."
Reporter:
"Had he ever threatened you yourself personally?"
Voice of: Laneedrah Dawson, Girlfriend of Deceased
"Mr Young, he did say if he can't have me, nobody can have me. This was in the report I made at the police station on February 26th."
"It's hard deep inside, it's just I wish I could just get Baptist back."
And Baptist's family shares those sentiments, especially the four brothers and two sisters he left behind.
Voice of: Shelmadine Baptist, Mother of Deceased
"I'm a strong woman, I always try to be strong for my sons, my sons are everything for me. My sons are very strong but because it's one of them, you know, they easily fall apart. Hurt, I know my sons are really hurt, I can't explain the hurt they feel. So I said to my friend, Jamie doesn't know what he did to my family. He just chanced my son out of his life."
"Damion was, I wouldn't say a perfect child, but for me, Damion was a perfect child. Damion's a little bit of everything. Damion and everybody get along, Damion and everybody gets along. Damion is always running jokes, always making jokes of everybody, making jokes of his granny, make jokes of me, make jokes of his sisters."
"He and everybody are friends, if Damion comes and says he doesn't like you, then you did him something really out of the way."
And now his son and two young daughters will have to grow up without their father.
While police have Young's vehicle, he is still on the run, still has a gun, and has reportedly made threats against Dawson.
