Settlement conference set for civil lawsuit in boy's shooting death

Melissa Gregory | The Town Talk

Show Caption Hide Caption Edited body camera video from Jeremy Mardis shooting This is a shortened version of video from a body camera worn by a Marksville Police Department officer on the night of Nov. 3, 2015. It shows the end of a chase between Christopher Few and Marksville Ward 2 deputy marshals. Few was seriously wounded when two marshals, Derrick Stafford and Norris Greenhouse Jr., fired their weapons at his car. Few's 6-year-old son, Jeremy Mardis, was shot and killed.

A settlement conference in the civil lawsuit stemming from the 2015 fatal shooting of 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis has been set for late March.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph H.L. Perez-Montes signed the order on Jan. 19 for the March 28-29 conference at the federal courthouse in Alexandria. He instructed the parties to the lawsuit "to exhaust attempts to settle the case before the settlement conference.

"This means more than exchanging an initial demand and offer," it reads. "Rather, the parties should make every possible effort to resolve the case before the settlement conference."

A telephone conference is set for March 14 so Perez-Montes can check on that.

The lawsuit was filed by the boy's parents, Christopher Few and Catherine Mardis, and aunt, Candace Few, on Oct. 27, 2016.

Christopher Few was driving Candace Few's Kia Sportage in Marksville on the night of Nov. 3, 2015, when Marksville Ward 2 deputy marshal Norris Greenhouse Jr. tried to pull him over.

After a slow-speed chase with Greenhouse and two other deputy marshals, Few became blocked in at the dead-end intersection of Martin Luther King Drive and Taensas Street. Body camera video from a Marksville Police Department officer shows Few's raised hands out of the Kia's driver's side window when Greenhouse and another marshal, Derrick Stafford, opened fire.

Both Few and Jeremy were hit. Jeremy died while still strapped in the front passenger seat. Despite being shot in his head and chest, Few survived.

The lawsuit, which names Greenhouse, Stafford and other individuals and entities as defendants, alleges that Jeremy "suffered immensely" after the "barbaric and excessive use of deadly force."

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Both Greenhouse and Stafford now are serving prison sentences at David Wade Correctional Center in Homer. Although both were charged with attempted second-degree and second-degree murder, the cases played out quite differently.

Stafford was found guilty of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter after a two weeks of jury selection and testimony. He received a 40-year sentence on the manslaughter conviction and a 15-year sentenced on the attempted manslaughter conviction.

Both were designated as crimes of violence, which means he can't receive time for good behavior.

Greenhouse agreed to a deal as his trial was set to start, pleading guilty to negligent homicide and malfeasance in office. Neither were designated as crimes of violence.

He was sentenced to five years for the negligent homicide charge and two-and-a-half years for the malfeasance charge.

Stafford is appealing his sentence.

One of the prosecutors from the Louisiana Attorney General's Office said the Stafford and Greenhouse cases were different and that he thought justice had been served.

"Different situation, different evidence, and the fact that we had no direct proof that this defendant who fired four shots actually hit anything except the car," said John Sinquefield in a WAFB Facebook Live broadcast after Greenhouse pleaded guilty.