Louisiana police probing home invasion, shooting
A home intruder, who along with a homeowner died in a shootout Sunday at a home in Denham Springs, La., had Columbia ties.
Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard said the homeowner, Beaux A. Bailey, 36, was “intentionally targeted” by Tedd L. Bourn, 37, of Tupelo, formerly of Columbia.
“We do not believe that this was a random home invasion based on the evidence we have obtained,” Ard said in a statement. “We believe the suspect intentionally targeted the victim.”
The accusations shocked Bourn’s classmates and friends in Columbia. Bourn was a 1998 graduate of Columbia High School.
“Tedd was a fantastic friend to all of us in high school,” Brandi Perry of Columbia said. “We were a very close class in high school, but unfortunately, like happens after high school, we lost track of a lot of our classmates. The only time I saw Tedd in the past 20 years was a couple of years ago at Dollar General. He was the same Tedd I’d remembered. I’m saddened to hear about the unfortunate situation that has occurred, and my prayers are extended to both families affected by this tragedy.”
Ard said detectives are still working to figure out why Bailey was targeted, but court papers suggest it could have been over Bailey’s ex-wife, Karen, wanting to relocate her children to Booneville in north Mississippi. The relationship between Bourn and Karen Bailey was unclear, according to the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Livingston Parish detectives also traveled to Lee County to search for evidence. They reportedly were looking at electronic devices.
“As for why the victim was targeted, I don’t know yet,” Ard said in his statement. “That is one of the reasons this is taking so much time. I want answers for this family just as everyone else does. There are certain times in law enforcement that you can’t give out too many details because it will jeopardize the investigation. This is one of those times.”
According to file newspapers at The Columbian-Progress, Bourn was a good student, being named to numerous honor rolls while at Columbia Elementary School and in 1994 finished second in the engineering category at the regional science fair while he was a student at Jefferson Middle School.
“He was very talented,” another CHS classmate, who wished not to be identified, said. “He had a friend, Donnie Joe West, who was in a wheelchair. They were best friends growing up. Tedd included him in everything – they were like brothers.”
But, as the case with Perry, when Bourn left high school, the other classmate said they too drifted apart.
“We were close in high school, not so much after,” she said. “When we saw each other, we would catch up.”
According to C-P files, when West died in 2006, Bourn was a pallbearer.
“They were close,” the classmate said. “I’m still in shock about this. It’s so sad.”
