Paragon Casino Site of Dead 17-Year-Old Girl, Louisiana Authorities Investigate Death

Posted on: October 4, 2022, 03:31h. 

Last updated on: October 5, 2022, 06:08h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A teenager was found dead at Louisiana’s Paragon Casino Resort earlier this week. The cause of her death was not immediately known.

The lifeless body was first discovered on Monday at the Marksville gaming property. An initial exam revealed the unnamed 17-year-old girl was not stabbed nor shot by a gun, KALB, a local TV station, reported. More tests will be undertaken.

Tunica-Biloxi Tribal Police are conducting a thorough investigation of the incident and are working with Paragon management and the local coroner as well,” Harold Pierite, chief of Tunica-Biloxi tribal police, said in a statement.

The casino was opened in 1994. The Marksville gaming complex is located some 88 miles northwest of Baton Rouge, La.

In 2021, the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana announced its gaming authority assumed management of the Paragon Casino Resort. The tribe had ended an arrangement with Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment, which operated the property. Throughout the partnership, Paragon lowered its debt by two-thirds. The property expects to be debt-free by 2028.

Prior Crimes

In January, a body was spotted at Horseshoe Indianapolis Racing and Casino’s parking garage in Indiana.

Also, in September 2021, a woman’s body was found in Las Vegas’ South Point Hotel Casino & Spa’s parking lot. The death did not appear suspicious but may have involved “self-inflicted toxins,” according to KVVU, a Nevada TV station. Last year, authorities continued to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death.

In another incident, two women were found in August 2021 shot dead on a hotel bed in a room at Las Vegas’ Palms Place Hotel & Spa, part of the Palms Casino Resort. Their deaths were classified as a murder-suicide.

Authorities concluded that Josie Tyler-Montgomery, 39, was fatally shot at the hotel by 39-year-old April Montgomery. The two were married in 2020.

Tyler-Montgomery’s death was determined to be a homicide. She suffered a fatal wound to the head. April Montgomery’s death was a suicide, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. She also suffered a wound to the head. There were additional injuries to her body.

Joe Horn Places First Bet

In Oct. 2021, Joe Horn, a former player for the NFL’s New Orleans Saints, placed the first legal sports bet in Louisiana history at the Paragon Casino Resort, according to the USA Today Network. Horn’s bet was a seven-team parlay.

The wager was placed at the sportsbook at Paragon, called The Draft Room. It is operated in partnership with Betfred Sports.

The Draft Room features theater seating, a restaurant, bar, 112 television screens, and three VIP “fan caves” for private groups, the report said.

Given that it is a tribal casino, it is not regulated by the Louisiana Gaming Commission. Nor does the state collect revenue.