Authorities allege that a Louisiana man killed his wife and then drove her body across state lines before being arrested in Tennessee. Tyronne Brazille, 50, is accused of shooting his wife, Lanessa Bradford, also 50, during an argument at Independence Community Park in Baton Rouge.
Body in passenger seat
Instead of contacting law enforcement, Brazille reportedly placed Bradford's body in the passenger seat of his car and drove about 400 miles (644km) north to Tennessee. The journey passed through Mississippi before ending in Memphis, where police stopped the vehicle for a traffic violation and discovered Bradford with a gunshot wound.
Brazille was arrested as a fugitive and faces a second-degree murder charge in Louisiana, according to his arrest warrant. He is scheduled for an extradition hearing in Memphis on Monday.
Friend's account
Bradford's longtime friend, Shelicka Decker, told WREG that Bradford, an elementary school employee, had been married to Brazille for several years but the couple was having difficulties. Bradford had recently told him she planned to leave, Decker said.
“She had the money saved up,” Decker said. “She had come up with a plan, and she was going to just vanish. That was the only way she would be able to get away from him. She was going to leave her car, she was going to leave all the things behind, and she had been in touch with her family that was out of town, and that’s how she was going to make this move to get away.”
Decker said Brazille had mental health problems and had threatened to kill himself or his wife when she previously mentioned leaving. “I have so many questions, like, what were you doing in the car with her that amount of time while she was deceased?” Decker said. “Where was his mind at during that ride? It’s so crazy and heartbreaking. We all, you know, hung around each other, and this is just not the same person that we grew up with.”
Broader context
Bradford was employed at a school in Baton Rouge, and colleagues asked police to conduct a welfare check when she missed several days of work, WREG reported. According to crime data cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than half of female homicide victims in the US are killed by current or former male intimate partners. The same data shows that about 20% of homicide victims overall die at the hands of an intimate partner.
A 2024 report from Louisiana's department of health highlighted intimate partner violence as a “significant public health concern in the state.” The state's rate of women murdered by men has historically been significantly higher than the national average, according to the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
