BATON ROUGE —- Baton Rouge Police have arrested an 18-year-old in connection with an attempted robbery and shooting that happened on July 22nd. Officials arrested Markle Burris Jr. for his involvement in the incident.
After receiving an anonymous tip, homicide detectives arrested and booked Burris into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for second-degree murder and attempted armed robbery-use of a firearm.
It was around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 22, when BRPD officers responded to the 3700 block of Cathedral Dr. about a shooting. According to a warrant, Burris was meeting up with two individuals selling a dirt bike from Facebook Marketplace.
While meeting with the sellers, Burris “begins to stall the sale of the dirt bike” by asking strange questions and allegedly making calls to someone who would drop off the money for the purchase, the warrant explains.
Officials say Melique Etienne, 22, walked up to the three people with a gun, demanding that the sellers unfasten the bike from the trailer. Burris got on the dirt bike and backed it down the trailer, and then Etienne got on behind him, but the bike wouldn’t start, said the warrant.
That’s when Etienne allegedly threatened to shoot the sellers if the bike wouldn’t start. However, one of the sellers, who had a gun, shot Etienne, who died from his injuries. Burris then ran off, according to the warrant.
Burris had an active arrest warrant for armed robbery from an incident in December 2024 that also involved a dirt bike he was attempting to purchase off of Facebook Marketplace.
Officials noted in the warrant that there are multiple reports where Burris is accused of “luring sellers of dirt bikes off of Facebook Marketplace and stalling them” until someone else comes with a gun “threatening to kill if the bike doesn’t work.”
The investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information on this shooting is asked to contact the Violent Crimes Unit at (225) 389-4869 or Capital Region Crime Stoppers at (225) 344-7867.
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