The suspect was also a registered sex fender.
A week after activist Sadie Roberts-Joseph’s body was found in the trunk a car, there has been an arrest connected to her murder. The 75-year-old community leader and African American museum founder was reportedly seen by her family the day she disappeared, according to CNN. She was reportedly making cornbread in her Baton Rouge, Louisiana home, just three miles from where her body would later be found. A preliminary report stated that Roberts-Joseph had been suffocated.
“All my mother ever wanted was for this community to come together. It’s ironic that that happened in death,” Roberts-Joseph’s daughter, Angela Machen, said. “What she wanted to happen in life came to fruition in death. However, we will see to it that her legacy continues.” On Tuesday, it was reported that a sex fender by the name Ronn Jermaine Bell had been arrested and charged with her murder.
According to police, Bell was renting one her homes and was $1,200 behind in rent. Bell’s sex fender status stems from a case where he pleaded guilty to the charges aggravated rape an eight-year-old girl. For that crime, he served seven years in prison.
Roberts-Joseph’s sister, Beatrice Armstrong-Johnson, hopes that Sadie’s legacy harmony lives on. “She was a total advocate peace, love and harmony, and she died just the opposite,” the 68-year-old said.