The Minden City Council meeting took place Tuesday evening, and, while the meeting itself ran smoothly, there was a somber tone to it in light of the recent tragedy — the double homicide of Minden’s former mayor, deputy marshall, and beloved ice cream salesman, Joe Cornelius and his daughter Keisha Miles.
At the end of the meeting, the council and mayor shared comments and condolences about the situation.
“We can never expect these things to happen, and when they do happen, it kind of gives us perspective. This thing has shocked everybody. We’re praying for the family. I urge all you guys to pray for the family because we need it in these times,” said Councilman Buddy Myles, Dist. A.
“Mr. Joe, he was an uplifting person in our community for a long time. He was a close friend of mine also. I know I’m really gonna just have to fill that void in my life some type of way, but through the good Lord, we’ll make that turn,” said Councilman Charlie Thomas, Dist. B.
“I just want to send out my condolences to the family, and to just continue to pray for the family,” said Councilwoman Latasha Mitchell for Dist. C.
“Joe was a pillar in our community. We had many, many conversations about this city; he loved it dearly. I sure hope we can push forward from this. Such a tragedy, and like it was said, it brings things into perspective for all of us,” said Councilman Michael Roy, Dist. D.
“My father served on the council with Joe Cornelius when I was a child. Their relationship and how they interacted with each other provided me with the ideas of how I should interact with you guys, and it very much informs how I think that the city’s business should be done between council people. Mr. Joe, I’m not the only one, there’s a ton of us who he was a staple of our childhood with his ice cream trucks down at Babbs Park, I mean I can hear it, I mean I can, and I know a lot of you can too,” said Councilman Andy Pendergrass, Dist. E.
“Anytime I think about the age of the child who did this, I just can’t, I just can’t. It is very sad. I’m also very thankful for our law enforcement who have served in a situation that I can’t even bring myself to think about, and they have to go and have sane and succinct thoughts while they’re working in it. So our prayers are with y’all, Chief, and we thank you for that.”
Many of Cornelius’ former colleagues from the Marshall’s office including Dan Weaver, Marvin Garrett, and Tina Douglas regularly attend the city council meetings to provide security. It was a duty that Cornelius himself had also performed before his retirement from the office in 2022. While a majority of the time they fill a silent roll, given the occasion, City Marshall Dan Weaver felt called to make some comments regarding the situation as well.
“Joe worked with me for four years. Joe was like a father to all of us at the marshal’s office. He was a dear friend. I want to thank personally the chief and all detectives for all that they did, and thank my deputy marshals,” said Weaver. “I also want to thank all law enforcement around the state. I got calls from state police and marshals all over the state of Louisiana. Everybody was offering to send as many people as we needed to solve this.
“All across the state people were calling wanting to lend their hand in this investigation with the chief, and they did an excellent job. Just keep my office in your prayers and also the family.
“Joe would say don’t shed one tear. He’d say move on, son. Just a really sad time for all of us here in the City of Minden.”
Lastly, before the meeting was adjourned, Mayor Nick Cox also shared some comments on the situation as well.
“The police chief and I have been fielding a lot of phone calls. They always ask me, what’s the feelings of the city on the situation, and my answer to them is it’s sad. It’s just a sad time,” said Cox.
“But the City of Minden is full of great people. We’ll get through this together. We’re going to get through this. We definitely want to continue to do all we can, reach out to that family, and show them we care, and support one another in any way we can.”