BATON ROUGE - Within the past few weeks, multiple East Baton Rouge Parish residents have been killed in homicides, and the Parish Coroner, Dr. William 'Beau' Clark took to social media on Monday morning to acknowledge the unsettling uptick in homicide deaths.

According to Dr. Clark, over the past weekend EBR's total number of homicides reached the triple digits.

"We currently stand at 104 homicides year to date," Dr. Clark stated in a Facebook post. "At this time last year (2019) we were at 67. Total 2019 number was 97."

Baton Rouge officials have repeatedly pleaded with the public via televised news conferences and interviews on WBRZ to report any criminal activity they're aware of, as this would significantly reduce the number of intended crimes lawbreakers are able to carry out. 

Despite these repeated requests and multiple community outreach programs implemented with the goal of encouraging the public to build a relationship with local law enforcement, disturbing cases of violence and deliberate murder continue to occur, many of them domestic related incidents. 

As this past weekend began, a man was killed Friday morning on North Ardenwood Drive. That same morning, in an unrelated incident, a two-year-old was allegedly shot and killed by a suspect who was also tied to a separate shooting that occurred the previous evening, as well as to the kidnapping of another child. 

After allegedly shooting a man, a toddler, and then kidnapping another child, the suspected gunman/kidnapper -identified as 41-year-old Kendrick Myles- engaged in an hours-long standoff with officials from the Baton Rouge Police Department (BRPD) and members of the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office (EBRSO). 

Authorities say at least certain aspects of Myles' Friday morning crime spree seem to have been domestic related. 

BRPD's Chief of Police, Murphy Paul said during a Friday morning news conference, "The reality is what I hear in these meetings (weekly commander's meetings) from my supervisors, "Chief we're dealing with the same people over and over again."

He went on to explain that Myles, for example, had an extensive history of run-in's with law enforcement and there were likely numerous opportunities to apprehend him prior to his alleged crime spree last Friday.

"The same individuals, we arrest them and then we have to deal with them again," Paul said. "What's right about that?"

"It's the same story," Paul continued. "Somebody, somewhere in that person's inner circle knew something where they could have picked up the phone to call law enforcement and prevent that shooting from happening."

Once again stressing the need of community assistance in reporting crime instead of covering it up, Chief Paul said, "Crime is a socioeconomic issue and the police department cannot do it alone." 

To report suspected criminal activity to Baton Rouge Police, call the Violent Crimes Unit at (225) 389-4869 or Crime Stoppers at (225) 344-7867.