MONROE, La. (KTVE/KARD)— Over the past few weeks, we’ve been revamping the Ark-La-Miss Most Wanted segment to not only include wanted suspects but cold cases, missing persons, and unsolved murders.
In September 1985, a 13-year-old boy was beaten to death at the Monroe Civic Center while attending the Ark-La-Miss Fair. No arrests were ever made and now Monroe PD detectives are back on the case. Jimmy Townsend of West Monroe was known as an “exceptional athlete” and he was very involved in the community; playing sports like football and baseball in school.
Just months before his death, he had won a contest held by a local boxing promotions company where a part of his prize was him having lunch with former Heavyweight Boxing Champion Joe Frazier.
On September 28, 1985, he and two of his friends went to the annual Ark-La-Miss Fair. Around 11:30 p.m. that night, it was said they were hanging out on the east side of the building where allegedly an argument took place with a group of young guys. That argument escalated into a physical altercation which ultimately led to Jimmy’s death.
According to his death certificate, Jimmy died due to multiple “cranial injuries”. In regards to suspects, the only information authorities were able to gather was that it was a group of “young people”.
And although only 13 years old, Jimmy had become a father just four weeks before he was murdered.
His daughter is now 37 years old and has been working with detectives to seek the truth about the events that led to her father’s death.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers of North Delta at 318-388-CASH or the Monroe Police Department at 318-329-2600.