BATON ROUGE — Sept. 16, 2023 marks one year since Allie Rice, 21, was shot and killed while trying to get back to her home on campus at LSU. The date is etched in Allie’s father’s mind, forever.
“We were awakened at 4:45 in the morning by the Baton Rouge Police Dept. knocking on our door. They basically told us our daughter Allie had been in an incident on government street,” said Allie’s father Paul Rice. “They were talking about the situation but hadn’t come out with what happened. Finally I asked them the question, ‘Is she okay?’ Their response was, ‘No sir, she’s with the coroner. She didn’t make it.’ At that moment, life is changed forever.”
It was around 2am on Government Street when Allie had stopped for a train to pass. The 21-year-old was headed back to LSU where she was a senior majoring in marketing. While she was stopped, her vehicle was shot at multiple times with Allie taking nearly 10 rounds. She died on the scene.
Sources told Unfiltered With Kiran she still had fast food and fries in her lap when police found her. Officials have said there was no evidence of a robbery or attempted robbery.
Despite a $55,000 reward for information on her murder, a year later, the case has gone cold with few leads.
“Honestly, there’s never been anything presented to us that gives us any hope that this will be solved other than the emotional outpour from the detectives themselves,” said Rice.
Allie was Rice’s only biological daughter. He said he still has days where he has to remind himself she is no longer here. He breaks down be it two months later, six months later and even now to realize the reality. He will not be able to walk her down the aisle, watch her family grow and play with his grandkids.
“It’s disappointing and frustrating. There have obviously been a number of shootings and crimes that have occurred since that point in time and there are a lot solved in 24 hours. There are some solved in a couple of weeks and for ours to be at a year now and feeling like we’re not any closer than we were Sept. 16th of last year, it’s frustrating but due to the nature of what happened here, all they had to work with though was what was left at the crime scene to work with and that’s not a lot,” said Rice.
He lives by her memories and cherishes the 21 years they did have together. Her energetic and bright personality is what led Allie’s family and friends to come up with the phrase “Live Like Allie.”
When we say “Live Like Allie,” (we mean) be that friend. Be that positive person. Be that energetic person. Light up the room. That’s where the color yellow came into play. It was so bright.
It’s why in and around Baton Rouge, you will come across people wearing yellow bracelets with the words “Live Like Allie.” Rice said his daughter’s story has gone national and he remembers mailing out numerous bracelets to people across the country.
“I’ve had people tell me they’ve been in other states and had this bracelet on and recognized and knew what it meant, and that’s amazing to me that this story has captured the hearts of that many people,” said Rice.
It’s also his hope a year later that his daughter’s story can bring people together, get people to speak up about crimes they witness, and overall bring a sense of security for people. He admits he was that person who thought the Baton Rouge crime wasn’t his problem.
“I was guilty like a lot of people of saying, ‘This would never happen to us. This would never happen to our family.’ It can and it will change your life like that. What happened to Allie could have happened to anyone,” Rice said.
It’s been an entire year the bright light called Allie Rice went dark in a matter of seconds. But her legacy lives on, be it through the cross on Government Street, fresh flowers, letters and bears or through all her family and friends keeping her memory alive.
“Allie was the type of person that lit up a room when she walked into it. The people who remember Allie talk about her sense of humor, her laugh, her smile, her personality, her silliness and it didn’t matter what the situation was. That’s who Allie was,” said her father.
Despite this father starting to somewhat accept maybe he may never get an answer as to what really happened that early morning on Sept. 16th, he is still holding out hope that someone, somewhere may speak up be it to get $55,000 in reward money or simply to give him and the family some closure.
Anyone with any information is urged to call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 344-STOP or submit a tip online. The person could be eligible for the reward money.
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Police need to investigate who she was dating and also who may have also been dating the same person she was dating be it male or female. Don’t leave any stone unturned. The emotion of jealousy sometimes leads certain people to seek revenge or to outright murder another.