Baton Rouge teenager shoots 'extremely violent' father dead 11 years after being forcibly taken away from family
A teenager who was assumed to be missing has been arrested and charged in connection to the shooting death of his father.
17-year-old Anthony Templet was arrested by deputies earlier this month at a home on Gray Moss Avenue in Baton Rouge after he called 911 and admitted to shooting his father, Burt Templet, following an argument, according to WAFB.
When emergency medical services arrived at the scene, they found Burt with gunshot wounds to the head and torso. He was transported to a hospital, where he died from his injuries a few days later.
The teen reportedly told investigators that he and his father had gotten into a fight after the latter had become drunk and aggressive, and he had grabbed two guns in case one failed and proceeded to shoot him three times.
As the investigation continued, Anthony's family came out to defend him and revealed that the father was an "extremely violent" man who had snatched the teen from their home in Texas in 2008 when he was just five-years-old and that they had neither seen or heard from him since.
While there was no missing person report for Anthony with the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), his sister, Natasha, said that, after his disappearance, they posted missing person flyers around Houston in the hope they would find him.
"He has been secluded and abused all these years by his own father," said Natasha. "My brave brother had to defend himself for the last time against that evil man."
"I can only imagine what Anthony’s been through," she continued. "When he was a baby, Burt would hold him in his arms while abusing my mother."
Natasha said Burt and their mother had been together for 10 years, with court records showing that he was charged with assault on three separate occasions between 2001 and 2002.
The Daily Mail reported that Anthony's mother filed for a protective order against Templet just months before he took off with the teen and that he went on to marry another woman in Baton Rouge.
However, that woman left him recently and similarly filed for a protective order against him, alleging on social media that he had knocked out several of her teeth.
After he was arrested, Anthony was able to speak to his mother, brother, sister, and grandmother for the first time in 11 years, and they were ecstatic.
"I talked to him by phone yesterday for about 15 minutes," Natasha said. "It was great. He’s really sweet. We talked about things we did when he was younger."
District Attorney Hillar Moore said his office has been in contact with several of the 17-year-old's relatives and that they will "speak with them and review whatever information anyone has before deciding what action to take."
Anthony is currently being held at a juvenile facility in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.