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May 28, 2003 A sigh of relief in Baton Rouge By Patrick Yoes After a couple of years of a highly publicized serial killer preying on attractive young women in the Greater Baton Rouge area, residents are breathing a sigh of relief now that police have a very good idea of the identity of the killer. DNA evidence has linked 34-year-old Derrick Todd Lee, of East Feliciana to five murders, and hopefully countless unsolved murders in and around the Baton Rouge area. With so many murders unsolved however, it has to leave you wondering if Lee is the lone serial killer on the loose. Going to college is a coming of age experience. A time when teenagers are given a little more freedom and lots more responsibility as they, for the first time, don’t have parents to nag them about bed times, homework, and the like. For those of us who made this journey of self-discipline and discovery, we can certainly appreciate the fun times we had as we lived and learned. However, for a couple of years now, students at LSU have learned a new experience since most of the victims have links to that school. They were forced to live in fear. A fear knowing that a serial killer may be roaming the streets of LSU campus. A fear made even greater with the knowledge that police had few clues and even fewer creditable suspects. Perhaps that was the most frustrating part of this investigation. Although the killer left a number of clues in his wake of terror, none really gave police enough to narrow in on him. That is, until now. All of this has changed when police announced Monday they have their man identified. It seems that he was identified as one of the thousands of men police asked for a DNA sample. The invitation list for swabbing came from a growing list of names generated from a tip line set up especially for the serial killer task force. How Lee was identified is still unclear, but what was apparent, he knew it would be only days before his DNA sample would positively identify him as a cold-blooded killer. With that knowledge, he apparently skipped town and in doing so, he continues to terrorize the Baton Rouge area as nearly the entire state fears he can strike again and again until he is behind bars. Even with the news that police have found their man; there still is reason to be cautious towards everyone else. Given the sheer number of unsolved murders of young women in the Baton Rouge region, one has to wonder if Lee is responsible for them all. If so, we are one step closer to restoring calm in the minds and hearts of the families of those who were victims and to those who feared being a victim. It would be safe however; to take to heart these painful lessons this ordeal has taught us. We need to be cautions, never let our guard down, and practice the common sense safety practices that have become a common place the past few months.
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