Baby in suspect’s car during police shootout on Mississippi interstate dies, coroner confirms

Published 10:14 am Tuesday, May 4, 2021

The baby that was reportedly kidnapped and brought on an interstate police chase that ended in gunfire on a Mississippi highway has died.

Harrison County Coroner Brian Switzer told WLOX News that the three-month-old infant died at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday at a Mobile hospital.

The baby was reportedly kidnapped by Eric Derell Smith who was wanted in two killings in Louisiana. Smith died during a shootout with police Monday in Mississippi after officers from multiple law enforcement agencies chased his car in the two states.

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A video aired by WLOX-TV showed police first flattening the tires on the car driven by suspect Eric Derell Smith and then Smith’s car becoming stuck in the median of Interstate 10. Another segment of the video shows officers firing multiple rounds at the suspect.

A 3-month-old boy in Smith’s car was transported to a Mobile hospital, with what appeared at first to be non-life-threatening injuries.

Smith was a suspect in two killings near Baker, Louisiana, early Monday. WBRZ-TV reported that the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office said Smith, 30, entered the home and fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and her nephew. They were identified as Christin Parker, 32, and Brandon Parker, 26.

The vehicle Smith was driving, a blue sedan, ended up in the interstate median after he tried to cross it to get onto the westbound lanes of I-10. WLOX-TV showed a video with more than a dozen law enforcement cars, with blue lights flashing, following Smith’s car at slow speeds after Smith’s tires had been flattened.

Biloxi police are handling the investigation because the Mississippi Highway Patrol, Gulfport police and the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office took part in the chase.