BATON ROUGE- It has been one month since beloved Baton Rouge icon Sadie Roberts-Joseph was killed, and over the weekend vandals appear to have targeted her museum.

Kevin Hayes said he was at Odell S. Williams museum paying his respects and visiting when he noticed things were not in order. He found broken benches, fountains with crystals torn apart and missing, gardens trampled over and chairs and a television flipped upside down.

"It's a historic black museum, and a lot of kids find time to not do harmful things by coming to this place," Hayes said. "Seeing it vandalized is heartbreaking."

Hayes said he has been going to the Odell S. Williams museum since he was a child.

"It's very disrespectful to anybody who cared what she was doing and any human being period," Hayes said.

Hayes said they went to file a police report about the damage, but initially, someone at 2nd District refused to take the report since they were not the owners of the museum. Baton Rouge Police said it was a miscommunication. They are now aware of the vandalism and are looking into it.

"It needs to stop and we need to come together as a community and protect this place no matter what race, color, creed you are," Hayes said. "We need to stand together for someone who was doing something right."

Roberts-Joseph was found stuffed in the trunk of her car. She was strangled as Hurricane Barry was bearing down on Louisiana. Her murder touched off community-wide support with candlelight vigils and a pledge to protect the work she was doing.

Sadie Roberts Joseph's son said he is aware of the vandalism and issued the following statement.

"It's disrespectful and extremely disappointing," Jason Roberts said. "The museum has been there for the community since its inception."

PORT ALLEN - Nearly two weeks after a man was killed in the Budget 7 Motel by a West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's deputy, a team of attorneys and family members of Josef Richardson are asking for the Department of Justice to investigate. 

Ben Crump, a national civil rights attorney, returned to Louisiana Wednesday demanding transparency. Since the shooting, he and the family say there has been a lack of information released from law enforcement. 

Josef Richardson was shot in the back of the neck as the River West Narcotics Task Force was executing a no-knock warrant looking for drugs. The attorney representing Richardson's girlfriend, who was inside the motel room, said Richardson and his girlfriend had their hands up when the warrant was executed.

"Right now, the reason we are asking the Department of Justice to come in is because the family does not trust the sheriff's department to tell them the truth," Attorney Ben Crump said.

Following the shooting, the unidentified deputy was placed on leave as Louisiana State Police took over the investigation. A spokesman with state police released the following statement:

"The Louisiana State Police remains committed to conducting a thorough, independent and impartial investigation. We have full confidence in our investigative team and the integrity they bring to the investigation. State Police continues to have open communications with the immediate family. We understand and share the family’s desire and need for answers. We urge patience to allow our investigators to gather the facts and evaluate evidence in order to provide an accurate account of the incident.”

The West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office said it supports the family in having the Department of Justice come in to investigate, but chose not to do an on-camera interview. 

Richardson's mother fought back tears as she addressed the crowd Wednesday.

"If somebody can go with an assault rifle and kill a lot of people and come out alive, why can't my unarmed son come out alive? Why? Why did they go in with guns with a warrant?" She said. "So if someone comes to your house with a warrant you need to be aware because they might come in shooting."

As Louisiana State Police continue their investigation, the family's attorneys are questioning whether it will be fair. 

"Sheriff Cazes has family members that work inside state police," Attorney Ron Haley said. "In positions in high power and authority. That raises a conflict of interest."

U.S. Attorney Brandon Fremin said his office cannot confirm or deny whether an investigation even exists. 

"We are not allowed to talk about a current investigation for all the obvious reasons. You don't want to upset it, and it's important to know we follow policy when we are limited in what we can say about a current or potential investigation," Freemin said.

GONZALES - The Ascension and West Baton Rouge Parish presidents are under fire for abandoning their communities during Hurricane Barry last week. Both parishes were under a state of emergency when the leaders there decided to leave for Las Vegas to attend a conference.

Kenny Matassa told WBRZ he was in constant contact with parish officials and everyone was in good shape. Information was not forthcoming when we called West Baton Rouge Parish.

So far, the WBRZ Investigative Unit has learned six people from Ascension Parish including Matassa attended the NACO or National Association of Counties annual conference. West Baton Rouge sent President Riley "PeeWee" Berthelot, but it's unclear how many people went with him. Iberville Parish sent most of their council and the council clerk.

Ascension Parish resident Pam Morgan believes their parish president let them down.

"Everyone's looking up to him," Morgan said.  "He got into this position because we had faith in him, but here a hurricane is on its way. We don't know which way it's going or what it's going to do, but to leave his people behind- that's selfish...very selfish. Stay here and take care of your people."

This is not the first time an official has been questioned for taking a trip during a storm. In 2016, then East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Kip Holden traveled to Taiwan as people here were suffering and trying to recover from the worst flooding this parish has ever seen. Pictures showed Holden in ballrooms with big chandeliers accompanied by food and drinks while Holden appeared to hold a champagne flute.

When he was asked about it then, he admitted it didn't have anything to do with flood recovery.

"The (Taiwan) government paid for it," Holden told reporters.

Although Barry passed, largely sparing this area, many are questioning the thought process for two parish presidents to abandon their people during what could have been a critical emergency.