By Kimberly Hopson
L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Last Friday brought the discovery of yet another violent incident in the neighborhoods of LaPlace — this time, the victim was 26-year-old Jeremy Diggs, also known as “Gigolo.”

The body was discovered that afternoon in the 400 block of Capt. G. Bourgeois Street with an apparent gunshot wound. Witnesses said Diggs’s body had lain on the ground between the porch and a small hedge in the front yard of a house near the corner of the street, mostly unnoticed, since approximately Tuesday morning. Though the body was officially discovered on Friday, a resident of the neighborhood said children passing the house in a school bus noticed the corpse before then.

“You could see feet sticking out, past the steps. He had on brand new white Chuck Taylors. Little kids on the bus passed that Thursday, but the bus driver didn’t know what they were talking about because they were talking amongst themselves. They said ‘Oh, look at that man laying over there on the ground sleeping,’” he said.

Diggs was prounounced dead at the scene.

Diggs’ mother reported to authorities that she had not heard from her son since Sunday evening. She said it was normal to not see him everyday, but that he would always call her. Apparently, the woman had also received taunting phone calls and text messages from persons associated with the murder. Allegedly, the perpetrators even went so far as to post conspicuous statuses “R.I.P. Gigolo” and “St. John Parish ‘bout to be on fire” to Instagram on Tuesday evening.

The people on the phone told her that her son was dead and gave her several different locations to find him. The corpse was right under their noses, however.

Locals blame the latest occurrence, and others in the recent past, on misguided youth in the area.

“Mostly now, it’s these little youngsters. Little guys that want to make a name for themselves…wanna-be gangsters. The ones that are too dumb to distinguish television life from real life. That’s basically what it’s all about. These youngsters just don’t know what they’re doing,” said a local resident.

“We’ve been dealing with death after death after death. You just have to suck it up and charge it to the game, I guess,” he said. “it’s been hard, and it’s gotten to the point now that we’re numb about it. It’s been everyone around me, and it keeps us thinking, ‘Am I next?’”

Anyone with information regarding the homicide is encouraged to call the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office tip line at 985-359-TIPS or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111. The murder was the sixth of the year in St. John Parish.