Gerald Washington

Gerald "Wash" Washington was a local politician and elected in 2006 as the first black mayor of Westlake, Louisiana, in the southwest part of the state. Having served three terms on the city council, he died of a single gunshot wound on December 30, 2006. He was scheduled to take office on January 2, 2007. The Calcasieu Parish coroner ruled that his death was a suicide, which the family rejected. A state police investigation also concluded he had died from suicide.