The dim glow of candle light spread across Louisiana Technical College’s Baton Rouge campus parking lot Sunday evening where more than 100 people gathered for a memorial service to honor the lives of the two students murdered in a double homicide and suicide occurring Friday on the campus. Taneshia Butler, 26, and Karsheika Graves, 21, were murdered in their classroom at about 8:30 a.m. Friday by their classmate Latina Williams who then killed herself. “We believe that the shooting was not provoked by either Taneshia or Karsheika and that their proximity determined their fate,” said Helen Pham, a student who was in the classroom at the time of the incident, during a statement on behalf of the class at the memorial service. “In honor of our classmates who perished, we are determined to continue pursuing our dreams of being nurses in order to touch the lives that they were unable to.” Baton Rouge Police Department Sgt. Don Kelly said Williams entered the class of about 20, spoke briefly with the professor and then left. Williams then re-entered though a back door, emptied the six rounds of a .357-caliber revolver, killing the two victims as they sat in their desk. Williams then re-loaded at least one round and shot herself in the head. The shooting occurred on the second floor of the building and was isolated to a single classroom. Kelly said police are unsure of the motive for the crime. He said there is no evidence of any altercation immediately preceding the shooting. “I didn’t expect this many people [to come to the memorial],” Pham said. Jim Henderson, senior vice president for the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, said a memorial fund to benefit the victim’s families has been established. He said donations may be made at any Chase bank by asking to contribute to the LTC Student Memorial Fund. Lois Holden spoke on behalf of her husband, Mayor-President Kip Holden, at the memorial. She said the community’s unity is important after such a tragic event. “We must all pull together to ensure the events on Friday are a rarity and not a commonality,” Holden said. BRPD Chief Jeff LeDuff spoke of the difficulties he faced when examining the crime scene and learning about the personal lives of the victims and students affected. He said students must work to overcome the tragedy and complete their educations because that is what Butler and Graves would want. LeDuff said the incident was the first time BRPD had to respond to an active shooting at a school. “Across this state, at all our colleges, people are grieving over what occurred here Friday,” said LCTCS President Joe May during the memorial Sunday. Cedric Hampton, LCTCS student board member, and Sate Sen. Yvonne Dorsey also spoke at the memorial. “This tragedy has left the academic world reeling,” LSU Acting Chancellor William Jenkins said in a statement released on the University’s Web site Friday. “The higher education community in Louisiana is a closely knit one, and our sympathies are with our friends at Louisiana Technical College.” Jennie Williams, mother of the Latina Williams, released a statement Saturday through BRPD condemning her daughter’s actions and sending her condolences to the victims’ families. “In this tragedy, just like you, we have many questions but no answers,” Jennie Williams said in the statement. “As Latina’s mother, I will not try to rationalize or make excuses for her action. It was wrong. … I will be haunted to the end of my days by what my child has done.” According to the LCTCS Web site, BRPD responded to multiple calls of the incident Friday and were on scene within two minutes of receiving the initial report. Lillian Sanders, LTC culinary student, said she was in her classroom at the time of the incident. She said her class received instructions via the classroom intercom system to remain away from the windows and doors. “We just heard a lot of people running, and … then we saw the police coming, and we just all dropped,” Sanders said. Graves has two daughters – a 20-month-old and a 5-month-old – and a fiance. Butler has a husband and three children, ages 9, 4 and 2. Henderson said the campus, located on North Acadian Thruway East, has about 800 students, most of whom are local.
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