'Stop the Violence' meeting set for Feb. 7 in Donaldsonville

A second "Stop the Violence" citizen committee meeting has been set for Donaldsonville City Hall Feb. 7 at 6 p.m.

According to meeting organizers, local and area elected officials will be in attendance, along with school officials and religious and community leaders.

Members of the Donaldsonville Mayor's Youth Advisory Council have been invited to speak about issues facing young people.

In addition to gun violence, the meeting will include discussion on fentanyl overdoses.

Concerned citizens and officials previously gathered Nov. 9 last year to discuss ideas on stopping violent crime.

The organizers of the meeting, Sunrise Community Group, previously held a townhall meeting on violence at the Donaldsonville courthouse Aug. 10 as well as a Stop the Violence march and rally in the city Feb. 27. 

In recent months, violent crimes have been reported on both the west bank of the Mississippi River in the Donaldsonville area of Ascension Parish, as well as on the east side.

Last month, an 18-year-old man died at a hospital after being shot in Donaldsonville.

Also, Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office detectives have been investigating a homicide in Gonzales late last year and a drive-by shooting in Sorrento.

Earlier in the week, a man originally from Gonzales was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds in neighboring St. James Parish in the Convent area.

At the beginning of the year, two suspects were accused in a vehicle burglary that led to the shooting of a pregnant Prairieville woman.

Gonzales Weekly Citizen and Donaldsonville Chief, part of the USA Today Network of Louisiana, cover Ascension Parish and the greater Baton Rouge area. Follow at facebook.com/WeeklyCitizen and facebook.com/DonaldsonvilleChief.