Family of man killed in movie theater parking lot still searching for answers

ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) - The family of a man gunned down in the parking lot of the Grand Theatre in Alexandria on July 19 is still looking for answers about what happened that night.

Larry Baxley, 74, of Colfax, was a Vietnam veteran, a longtime logger and a devoted family man, his daughters said.

“I get the phone call and all I hear on the other line is ‘your dad has been murdered,’” Janice Baxley Hosey told KALB about the night she got the call that her father had been killed.

Hosey and her sister, Eva Davidson, found out the news through a cousin who was initially contacted by the Alexandria Police Department.

“My dad was shot twice in the head, then his deceased body was robbed, left in the parking lot and they took his truck,” Hosey said.

Alexandria police said 19-year-old Antonio Brooks of Alexandria was responsible. The sisters said they learned that their father was shot with his own gun. More than a month later, they still want to know why. They feel they’re not being kept in the loop.

“I have a lot of concerns about the way the whole case has been handled so far, from the incident to today,” said Hosey.

“Communication. Transparency. I don’t feel like we’re getting anywhere on it,’ said Davidson.

The sisters told KALB their father was in the early stages of dementia, was looking for companionship and often met people in the casino.

“All elderly get lonely, especially once we get grown and leave out of the nest,” said Hosey.

The sisters said they had the power of attorney. And, since the shooting, have gone through his bank records and text messages.

According to a police report obtained by KALB and provided by Hosey and Davidson, there was a witness on the scene the night Baxley was killed. The sisters want to know more about that witness, who they believe knew their father and was related to Brooks.

They also said after receiving his truck, wallet and cellphone back from forensics, they went through it.

“We found his phone and it looked like things had tried to be deleted out and phone calls made after the fact,” said Hosey. “Still no law enforcement, no advocate, nothing has contacted us about any of it.”

The two also feel like the situation was preventable.

On Nov. 4, Brooks has a court date for charges he faces in separate cases - including simple burglary, theft of a motor vehicle, simple arson and injury by arson.

They believe if Brooks wasn’t on the streets, their father might still be alive.

“It’s not like he wasn’t showing signs of being a danger to society already,” said Hosey.

While Hosey and Davidson have told KALB what they say they have learned happened to their father the night he was killed, the City of Alexandria has not released any information about the events that took place - only that an arrest was made.

Antonio Brooks is charged with second-degree murder, armed robbery and two counts of attempted second-degree murder for the shooting in the movie theater parking lot. He remains behind bars on a more than $1.1 million bond.

The case has not gone to a grand jury yet.

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