MELVILLE, L.a. — Many in Melville — mourning the death of Mayor Velma Hendrix — who was killed in a car crash on Election Day.
The mayor was on the ballot for re-election but after Tuesday's crash, questions were being raised throughout the town and the parish about what her death means for the race.
But Hendrix unfortunately isn't the only one to die during election time. James Carter, a mayoral candidate out of Natchitoches died Monday morning.
Election officials told KATC under these circumstances, protocol requires that the local elections are canceled and that the qualifying period is reopened.
St. Landry Parish Clerk of Court Charles Jagneaux said there is, however, a caveat.
"If no one qualifies then the top vote-getter in the election is declared the mayor, if someone else qualifies then they'll have the election in December on the 10th," he said.
With that said, the question remains — who is holding down the fort in the meantime? That's where Mayor Pro Tempore Linda Haynes, a former student and close friend of Hendrix for decades, comes in.
"Things happen in life, you have to be prepared to deal with them, you have to step up to the plate and I think she'd given me enough to enable us to continue, not just me, but the town and the council to be able to have a smooth requisition to the next person who's going to take over," Haynes told KATC. "I depend a lot on my higher power and I have the strength and I think this is a part of life that we all have to face at some point and how we deal with it is how we can get over it. I hate this, it's sad, but it had to be."
There's no word yet as to when a memorial will be held for Hendrix but those at the town hall said they are in the early phases of planning something special for everyone to be a part of.
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