HOUSTON — Like many kids, Ronald Caldwell Jr. dreamed of playing in the NFL someday.
Instead, the family of the Northwestern State football player is planning his funeral after Caldwell, 21, was shot and killed earlier this month. He was found with multiple gunshot wounds by Natchitoches police officers who responded to the shooting overnight on Oct. 12.
“This has been a parent’s nightmare,” mother Blanche Caldwell said.
The Austin family has hired a Houston-based law firm and plan to take legal action against the Louisiana college, its football coach and others. Caldwell's parents believe they dropped the ball in protecting their son who was on a full scholarship.
They said it all started when a mold issue at their son's off-campus apartment led to him being moved to a unit with a non-student. Allegedly, that roommate became trouble.
“I called the coach, I text him, ‘Please move my son, somebody pulled a gun on him,’” Ronald Caldwell Sr. said. Three days later, he got the call every parent dreads.
“Next phone call I get from this man is at 2:07, 2:07 [a.m.] Thursday that my son is deceased,” Caldwell Sr. said.
Now the family’s attorneys are demanding accountability.
“The university and coach Brad Laird did nothing to protect Ronald Jr,” attorney Troy Pradia said to reporters.
As the school continues to grieve, the coach resigned, saying in a statement that Ronald Jr.’s death “was like losing a son.” The rest of the team’s football season was canceled, with the school saying “mental health and wellbeing of its student-athletes as the primary reason for its decision.”
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Meanwhile, Caldwell’s parents say their dreams for their child are shattered.
“That’s what our dream is when we send our kids to college. Send our child back better, grow them bigger and better than what we sent to you, not the way they sent my kid back home,” Caldwell Sr. said.
According to the family’s attorney, the roommate was arrested on gun and drug possession charges. They say no one has been charged yet in Ronald’s death.
“I really wanted him to move into the business world, that’s where his degree is, his major was business, same as mine,” the victim's mother said.
Northwestern State issued a statement on Friday.
“We are aware of today's press conference held by the Caldwell family. The cause of Ronnie’s death is still under active investigation by the Natchitoches Police Department, and it would be inappropriate for us to comment or speculate at this time. The police have our full cooperation and support. We continue to send our deepest condolences and sympathy to the Caldwell family, and we remain focused on helping our student-athletes and the broader NSU community to heal from this tragedy.”