Primate charged with murder after killing pregnant 17 year old in Tangipahoa Parish Louisiana road rage shooting
Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2025 7:40 pm
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PONCHATOULA, LOUISIANA - The man accused of a weekend road-rage shooting on the north shore will be booked with second-degree murder, after the 17-year-old girl shot in the head was removed from life support and died, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday (Aug. 26).
“The charges against the suspect in this case, 54-year-old Barry West, have been upgraded to include one count of second-degree murder,” the TPSO said in a statement.
The agency and family members confirmed the death of 17-year-old Katelynn Strate of Ponchatoula. Authorities said Strate was seven months’ pregnant when shot Sunday morning near Ponchatoula. Her unborn baby, at 28 weeks, was saved by C-section and “continues to do well under medical care,” the sheriff’s office said.
Authorities and family confirmed that Strate became an organ donor after it was determined she would not recover from her gunshot injury.
Barry West, 54, was booked with four counts of attempted second-degree murder, one count of illegal use of a weapon and one count of obstruction of justice after an alleged road rage incident Sunday (Aug. 24) near Ponchatoula, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office said.(Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office)
According to deputies, West fired shots into a Ford Expedition occupied by three people -- in which the girl was a passenger -- during a road-rage incident Sunday around 9 a.m. on North Hoover Road. Authorities said the driver of the Expedition and West in a Dodge truck were going in the same direction but began tailgating and “brake-checking” each other.
Doctors save baby after pregnant teen was shot in head during road-rage incident near Ponchtoula
West allegedly told investigators he thought occupants of the Ford shot at him first and that he defended himself by returning fire, but detectives and deputies said they determined no other shots were fired and no weapon was found in the Ford.
Social media posts claimed West was a former TPSO deputy, but the agency said that has not been verified as true.
“Records dating back as far as our system currently allows (2007) do not show any employees with the last name West,” the agency said Tuesday night.
https://www.wafb.com/2025/08/27/alleged ... tpso-says/
Doctors save baby after pregnant teen was shot in head during road rage incident near Ponchatoula
https://www.wafb.com/2025/08/25/doctors ... nchatoula/