BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – The remains believed to be of missing 15-year-old Ja’Derrius Minnieweather have been found in a landfill in Zachary, sources tell WAFB.
DNA testing will be conducted to formally verify the remains, but multiple sources say the clothing found matches what the teenager was reportedly wearing when he disappeared.
The Baton Rouge Police Department is expected to hold a news conference this afternoon to discuss the development.
Minnieweather had been missing since Friday, June 5. On Saturday, June 20, police announced the teen was presumed dead, prompting an exhaustive search at the East Baton Rouge Parish North Landfill in Zachary that began last month.
Maurice Parms, 51, was arrested on June 20 and booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on a count of first-degree murder in connection with the death.
According to the arrest warrant, detectives believe Minnieweather was beaten to death during a tense disagreement with Parms over how Parms was acting toward a 16-year-old girl, who was a longtime friend of Minnieweather. Investigators say Parms then stashed the teen’s body and tossed evidence before transporting the remains to be disposed of…