Northwestern State Coach, School Being Sued By Murder Victim's Family For Negligence

The Northwestern State football program in Louisiana exited the football field on Thursday for the rest of the season with four games left, just in time to enter the legal arena for alleged negligence.

Two law firms representing the family of murdered Northwestern State football player Ronnie Caldwell of Austin, Texas, announced Friday they will be suing the university, football coach Brad Laird and the apartment complex where Caldwell lived.

Caldwell, 21, died at that apartment complex from several gun shot wounds after 1 a.m. on Oct. 12 just blocks from campus, located in the sleepy town of Natchitoches (population: 17,000) where "Steel Magnolias" was filmed in 1989.

None of the three future defendants protected their son from imminent danger, the attorneys say. They plan to file the lawsuit next week.

Northwestern State Ended Its Season, And Brad Laird Resigned

Northwestern State announced Thursday afternoon that it had ended its football season for the mental health welfare of its players in light of Caldwell's death. Laird announced simultaneously that he was resigning after an 0-6 start - his sixth straight losing season since getting the job in 2018. No one mentioned potential lawsuits that they knew previously about which were well underway.

Attorney Troy Pradia of the Cox Pradia law firm of Houston said that Caldwell called his father on Oct. 9 to tell him that his roommate, John McIntosh of Natchitoches, threatened him with a gun. Ronnie Caldwell Sr. said he then called Laird, who said he would move his son to another residence.

Northwestern State coach Brad Laird resigned on Thursday after an 0-6 start this season and in light of the murder of junior safety Ronnie Caldwell. (Photo by Bobby McDuffie/Getty Images)

Three days later, Caldwell remained in the same apartment with McIntosh, a 27-year-old non-student. Maurice Campbell II of Memphis also lived with Caldwell and McIntosh. Campbell had quit the football team four games into this season.

And three days later, Ronnie Caldwell was dead.

Later that same Thursday, Oct. 12, Natchitoches Police arrested McIntosh for possession of a firearm in the presence of a controlled dangerous substance. Another three days later, Natchitoches Police arrested Campbell, 22, on possession of a firearm in the presence of a controlled, dangerous substance. Authorities have not yet labeled McIntosh nor Campbell as a suspect in Caldwell's murder or as a person of interest.

But they have said each were arrested in connection with the investigation.

"Coach Laird did nothing after I told him the guy pulled a gun on Ronnie," the elder Caldwell said of Laird Friday at a press conference at Cox Pradia Law Firm offices in Houston. "The next time coach Laird called me was at 2:30 in the morning on Oct. 12 to say my son was deceased."

Laird could not be reached for comment Friday. A friend said he was in the process of changing his cellular phone number.

"Coach Brad Laird said he would move Ronnie junior immediately to a safer location," Pradia said. "Three days passed, but there was no action by Brad Laird or by the University. Then in the wee hours of Oct. 12, 2023, Laird called Ronnie Caldwell Sr. to say his son was murdered. All coach Laird had to do was call campus police, who would call other authorities."

What police would have seen at the apartment of Caldwell, McIntosh and Campbell would have likely led to arrests.

Former Northwestern State coach Brad Laird guides the Demons at LSU on Sept. 14, 2019, in Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

"They would have found all these guns and drugs in these young men's apartment," Pradia said. "He (McIntosh) would have been arrested, and Ronnie Jr. would be here with us today."

Pradia's law firm has joined forces with the firm of Daniel, Williams and Associates that has offices in Houston and New Orleans.

"At the end of the day, we're seeking accountability and justice for the family and want to aid in the investigation of the murder," attorney Helen Daniel Holman said. "That's what we intend to do."

Holman opened the press conference.

"It's our position that a number of failures happened," she said. "Northwestern State failed to protect Ronnie Caldwell Jr. The apartment complex failed to protect Ronnie Caldwell Jr. And most important of all, coach Brad Laired failed to protect Ronnie Caldwell Jr."

Pradia was asked if he was surprised that Northwestern State canceled the rest of its season on Thursday and that Laird resigned Thursday.

Attorney Tony Pradia May Know Why Brad Laird Resigned

"This is strange," he said. "I don't know what else is going on at the university, but this is strange. We don't know the exact reasons why coach Laird resigned. We think we know why. Because he knew that he didn't report or get help for Ronnie Caldwell. But there's still some unanswered questions."

One unanswered question is this. Why was Ronnie Caldwell Jr. living with 27-year-old non-student John McIntosh? This is why Campus Advantage, which manages the apartment complex where Caldwell lived and died and others near it is expected to be named in the lawsuit.

Northwestern State has agreements with multiple apartment complexes near its campus to house athletes sometimes among non-athletes and non-students. And often the student-athletes and other students have no say in who their roommates are. This was the case with Caldwell, who previously did not know McIntosh, according to his family.

Asked if Caldwell and McIntosh had ongoing disagreements, Pradia said no.

Some of the lodging for students and athletes near the Northwestern State University campus have been described by local business owners as shady, if not dangerous.

"Yeah, I've heard a lot of gun shots," one business owner said Thursday. "But usually no one is hit."