Funeral for boy shot dead by marshals amid claims officers faced no threat

Family and friends of a 6-year-old boy killed when marshals in Marksville, Louisiana, opened fire on a vehicle were gathering for his funeral service Monday, amid fresh claims that the child's father had his hands up when the officers opened fire.

Jeremy Mardis was killed and his father, Chris Few, was wounded when marshals opened fire on their vehicle last week. Mardis was shot five times in the head and chest, the Avoyelles Parish coroner said.

Mardis was to be buried Monday in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. His family recently moved from Hattiesburg to Louisiana.

Louisiana state police announced late Friday that they arrested two of the marshals involved in the shooting — Derrick Stafford, 32, of Mansura, and Norris Greenhouse Jr., 23, of Marksville — and are still investigating the incident, which raised questions almost from the beginning.

Few's lawyer Mark Jeansonne said Monday that his client had his hands in the air at the time of the shooting. "This was not a threatening situation for the police," he added.

Initial reports suggested the marshals were serving a warrant on Few when the shooting happened. But Louisiana's head of state police, Col. Mike Edmonson, said there was no evidence a warrant was issued. He also said that no gun was found on Few at the scene.

The officers have reportedly not said why they decided to pull him over. Stafford and Greenhouse each face charges of second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder. They were being held in a jail in central Louisiana.

State police said Stafford is a full-time lieutenant with the Marksville Police Department; Greenhouse is a full-time city marshal. Both were working part time as deputy marshals in Marksville's Ward 2 when the shooting occurred on Nov. 3, state police said. 

Bail for the officers was set at $1 million each at a Monday hearing closed to the press and public, according to Jeansonne.

Investigators have been combing through forensic evidence, 911 calls and body camera footage. They have not released the footage or the calls, but Edmonson described the body camera footage at a news conference Friday as "the most disturbing thing I've seen."

He added that the boy died while still buckled into his seat in the car.

Al Jazeera and wire services