LAPLACE — Deputies are investigating how the killing of a child and her uncle is connected to an altercation that happened Friday night near a middle school football stadium in Laplace.

During a press conference on Monday, Sheriff Michael Tregre said Cartez Foster, 23, and Patrick Maxin, 26, were involved in an altercation between Belle Point Boulevard and the East St. John football stadium where they pistol-whipped a woman, which caused a fight to break out where the two men were beaten. 

After the altercation, Foster and Maxin drove to a subdivision off of Belle Terre Boulevard where they were planning on shooting the person responsible for beating them Sheriff Tregre said. 

He said they fired around 15-20 rounds at a man who was walking in front of the victim's house and has not been identified. The sheriff said the man was uninjured, but an 11-year-old and her uncle Ron Tate were killed by stray bullets that went through the front of the house. The pair was taken to a hospital, where they died. 

At the hospital, deputies met the woman who was pistol-whipped and connected the two cases.  

“Investigators connected the dots because when we were at the hospital checking on the victims, who were shot, we also had a victim at the hospital, who was there because she was beaten from being pistol-whipped at the football game. Those two investigations are where we connected the dots and realized that Foster and Maxim were responsible for both incidents.” Sheriff Tregre said. 

Foster and Maxin fled the area and were found early Saturday morning in Jefferson Parish where they were both taken into custody and charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

"I don't agree with Gov. Jeff Landry on everything, but I do agree with him on one thing, and that is the death penalty. I think that we have cases in this state where we need to start showing people there are consequences for your actions," Sheriff Tregre said.