Ribbons pinned to collars and lapels have come to represent different charitable causes associated with their own color. And as University students left campus for winter break, a black ribbon came to signify unity between members of the University community and support for the families of two Ph.D. students who were murdered on campus. “I saw a bunch of my friends were changing their Facebook pictures to a black ribbon with ‘LSU’ on it,” said Katie Park, undecided sophomore. “It seemed like the least I could do to show support for the [victim’s] families. We had to come together to overcome the tragedy.” Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam were both shot in the head and found dead Dec. 13 in the Edward Gay Apartments located adjacent to the Tiger Marching Band practice field in the northern area of campus. Charles Zewe, system vice president for communications and external affairs, told Fox News that Komma was found bound with a computer cable. No arrests have been made in the investigation. The Baton Rouge Police Department released sketches of only two suspects Dec. 17, although there may be as many as four men involved. The suspects were looking for someone to rob, according to a statement issued by BRPD. “There is a steady progress [in the investigation] that is being made at this time,” said LSU Police Department detective David Heroman. Heroman said the most disappointing setback in the investigation was a false information report because it led to wasted time and effort. Dallas Joseph Staden, 22, was charged with criminal mischief Jan. 3 for reporting false information concerning the homicides, Heroman said. LSUPD subpoenaed phone records from AT&T to trace who provided the tip after a message was sent through the media asking the anonymous caller to contact the task force again was left unanswered. The sketches of the suspects released are still accurate, Heroman said. If new, accurate information is learned about the suspects’ appearances, the sketches will be amended. “We have completely moved on in the investigation,” Heroman said. “We cleared it up.”Heroman said the task force meets on a daily basis and still is collecting new information. He said there are no new leads or developments he is able to discuss because the investigation is ongoing. The chance of finding the suspects does not necessarily decrease over time, Heroman said, rather, more depends on the amount and quality of information the task force receives. Heroman said the current task force investigating the double homicide consists of four major local agencies – LSUPD, BRPD, Louisiana State Police and the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s office – as well as additional local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. An initial call was made as a medical emergency to LSUPD at 10:37 p.m. on Dec. 13. At 3:24 a.m Dec. 14, a broadcast e-mail was sent to members of the University community, and a cautionary message was posted to the University Web site. By 2 a.m. on Dec. 14, University officials had contacted the company contracted to run the emergency text message system to determine why many students who registered for emergency text messages did not receive the message sent earlier that night. At 4:30 a.m., a broadcast e-mail was sent to inform students of the emergency text message system’s failure. Desiree Dupuis, nutrition and dietetics senior, said she first heard about the double homicide when she read the broadcast e-mail early on Dec. 14. She said she signed up for the emergency text message system but did not receive the alert. “I was a bit upset,” Dupuis said. “I checked to make sure there was nothing wrong with my phone. I didn’t think it could have been a problem for everyone.” Chancellor Sean O’Keefe held a press conference Dec. 14 during which he sent his condolences to the victims’ families and assured the University community the campus was safe. Later that evening, about 300 people attended a memorial service for Komma and Allam hosted by the Indian Student Association in the Student Union. On the same day, the University created the “Komma and Allam Support Fund” through the LSU Foundation to accept donations to aid the victim’s families. Scott Madere, LSU Foundation director of public relations, said he could not release the amount of money donated to respect the beneficiaries’ privacy. He said the donations will be split evenly between the families of Komma and Allam. “We were very encouraged to see the outpouring of support from not only the LSU and Baton Rouge community, but the international community as well,” Madere said. “We had a lot of donations come in from India to support the families of the victims.” O’Keefe met with Indian diplomats Alok Pandey, first secretary from the Embassy of India in Washington, D.C., and K.P. Pillai, consul from the Consulate General of India in Houston, Dec. 15 to review law enforcement’s investigative efforts and to aid the victim’s families, according to a University news release. A private donor offered $4,000 on Dec. 19 to supplement the $1,000 reward for information given before midnight Christmas Eve leading to an arrest and indictment. On Christmas Day, the reward reverted back to $1,000. On Dec. 24, The International Herald Tribune reported the bodies of both Komma and Allam had been returned to their native home, India, and cremated by their families. Jason Knowles, geography Ph.D. student, said he often discussed the homicides and new developments in the case with his friends and graduate student peers. “We couldn’t understand the possible motivations behind it,” Knowles said. “We were certainly all shocked. We were very aware of it, and we talked about it constantly.” Shrinidhi Shetty, petroleum engineering graduate student, said he received the University e-mail while in his on-campus office the night of the murders. He said the e-mail alerted him of the incident and allowed him to use extra caution when walking home that night. Shetty, who is from India, said he could not imagine the pain of the victim’s parents because no one would send their child overseas to study if they thought such a tragedy would occur. He said the incident is upsetting, not simply because he is the same nationality as the victims. “We are all LSU students,” Shetty said. “We all lost two members of the school community.”
—-Contact Nicholas Persac at [email protected]