5-year-old, baby were tossed from bridge — now mom is charged, Louisiana officials say
A Louisiana woman accused of throwing two of her children, including a 10-month-old infant, from a bridge last year has been charged and faces the possibility of life in prison, according to authorities.
A grand jury indicted Ureka Rochelle Black, 33, of Shreveport on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of her infant son, Joshua Calif Black, the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday, Jan. 27.
Black was also charged with the attempted second-degree murder of her 5-year-old child, who survived when she threw both kids from the Cross Lake Bridge into the water below on Sept. 24, 2021, officials said.
Shreveport police were called to the scene just before 11 a.m. after neighbors reported seeing a small child floating in the lake near the bridge, which spans Interstate 220, McClatchy News previously reported, citing police. The 10-month-old was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officers located the 5-year-old a short time later and took the child to Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport hospital with life-threatening injuries, authorities said. Crews searched for a third child they believed had also been thrown from the bridge but was later found safe.
Black was arrested near the Texas-Louisiana border that afternoon, McClatchy News reported, citing police.
Black’s sisters said they suspected she was dealing with mental health issues but that she refused to get help, according to KSLA. Days before the tragic incident, the family said they were trying to get custody of Black’s children.
“We just knew something wasn’t all the way right with her, but I didn’t want to hurt her in that way of taking her kids,” Felicia Black told the news station last year. “We feeling guilty that we should’ve.”
If convicted on the murder charge, Ureka Black would face an automatic sentence of life in prison, WWL-TV reported. The attempted murder charge carries a sentence of 10 to 50 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
It’s unclear if a trial date has been set. McClatchy News reached out to the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office on Jan. 28 and was awaiting a response.
This story was originally published January 28, 2022 at 9:58 AM with the headline "5-year-old, baby were tossed from bridge — now mom is charged, Louisiana officials say."