Accused teenage carjacker charged as an adult in Southern student’s killing

BATON ROUGE – A teen who was 16 years old when he allegedly shot and killed a Southern University student during a botched carjacking near the school’s campus is being charged as an adult in the killing. 

Court records show De’Arius Ellis, who turns 17 next month, was formally charged with manslaughter and armed robbery on Thursday.

Ellis was arrested, along with a then 17-year-old accomplice, after the killing of Javonte Barber in the parking lot of the Cadence apartment complex outside Southern’s campus on March 12, 2022. Police say Barber was shot multiple times in his car during the carjacking attempt.

The two teens were initially booked into the Juvenile Detention Center later that day for first-degree murder.