Baton Rouge Police have arrested Ronn Jermaine Bell, 38, in the murder Sadie Roberts-Joseph.
The 75-year-old local civil rights leader's body was found in the trunk of a car near her home last Friday. The East Baton Rouge Parish coroner said Roberts-Joseph had been suffocated.
BRPD Chief Murphy Paul says Bell was a tenant in one of Roberts-Joseph's properties and was apparently behind on his rent for several months, up to around $1,200.
Paul says the investigation continues and investigators have yet to find a motive though it did not appear that Roberts-Joseph's death was a hate crime or connected to her efforts in the community.
East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Sid Gautreaux said Bell was already in prison on an unrelated warrant.
Photo: Baton Rouge Police Department