A triple homicide at a Louisiana homeless camp, allegedly spurred by a stolen bicycle, emphasizes the inherent dangers of these encampments – not just for their inhabitants, but for those in surrounding communities, an expert told Fox News Digital.
On April 3, 44-year-old Mindy Ann Robert, 33-year-old Marcey Vincent and 53-year-old Warren Fairley were found dead, all shot multiple times, in a makeshift campsite, hidden from view by brush on a vacant lot in Jefferson Parish, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said.
Crime in these camps is a growing concern across the country, which has seen an 18.1% increase in homelessness in 2024, according to a December report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Federal officials cited a rising number of asylum seekers, lack of affordable housing and natural disasters as reasons for the increase in homelessness.
"These homeless encampments pose a health threat and a safety threat to the general public," Mark Powell, a former reserve police officer in San Diego who oversaw the city's Monarch School for Homeless Youth while on the city's school board, told Fox News Digital. "It's the duty, it's the obligation of our city leaders, our elected politicians, to do everything they can within the law to eradicate these camps and provide the people living in the camps with the dignity they deserve through some type of shelter program."
In the Louisiana case, Noel Marine, who was known to visit the victims at the campsite, was arrested and faces three counts of first-degree murder and obstruction of justice in their deaths. He is currently being held on $100,000 bail, according to court records.
Investigators believe Vincent and Robert were homeless and lived at the campsite, while Fairley lived in a home nearby. Robert's family assumed that she was living in the area because they recently saw her panhandling at a nearby street corner, NOLA.com reported.
"Periodically, other people would stay [at the campsite] and use narcotics," Det. Ryan Vaught testified during a Nov. 19 hearing in Jefferson Parish Magistrate Court.
A man who was dating one of the female victims allegedly dialed 911 around 9:40 a.m. when he found the three bodies.
Marine, 55, became the prime suspect after his fingerprint was also found on a metal folding chair at the site. His fingerprints were in the national Combined DNA Index System due to previous convictions, including four counts of possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute and other drug charges.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in April 2005, court records show. At the time of the shooting, he was wanted for missing court in a misdemeanor theft case after allegedly stealing from a Walmart in February of this year, according to court records.
Marine allegedly claimed that he was staying at a friend's house in Metairie at the time of the shooting, but his alibi was torn open after the friend told detectives that Marine was not there.
Although a gunshot was heard in the area around 1 or 2 a.m., according to Vaught, no one saw the killings take place. However, Marine's friend gave a statement to police after he allegedly confessed to the killings, Vaught testified.
After he was brought in for a second round of questioning, Marine claimed that another man shot the three victims. He said that he was talking to the man who confronted him at the encampment after Marine stole his bicycle. The other man brandished a gun, and Marine walked into the campsite to retrieve the stolen property, according to Marine, who said he then heard gunfire.
However, police have not named the man Marine accused, and no one else has been arrested in the homicides.
WASHINGTON STATE DEMOCRAT PUSHES TO GIVE HOMELESS SPECIAL CIVIL RIGHTS
Powell said that the incident is the latest example of why the government has an obligation to regulate homeless encampments.
"In this instance, three people were murdered. That's not to say somebody jogging through the park or jogging near the homeless encampment could also become a victim just as easily as this," Powell told Fox News Digital.
"It's the duty of the city. If they're going to allow homeless camps like this, it's their duty to make sure that they're cleaned, that they're regulated, that there's some type of law enforcement presence that frequents that homeless camp on a regular basis," Powell said.
"Not once a month or when they get a call, but they have to have some type of security in there," he continued. "[Otherwise] you're going to end up with more of these incidences where there are rapes, murders, there's assault, there are batteries, there's a theft, there's rampant drug dealing – this is what you'll find in these homeless encampments."
"Many people don't even want to jog through the park because they know there's a homeless encampment in there, and they're scared – the people who are committing the crimes are the ones who are controlling the property," Powell said. "They're not paying taxes, they're not doing anything yet. [But] the people who do pay the taxes who do not commit crimes, they're the ones who are impacted."
Fox News Digital's Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
