Louis Woodruff's family took him off life support on Tuesday, Sept. 1, a day after Lansing police found the 57-year-old beaten unconscious on the Lansing River Trail.

His death marked the second homicide on the trail in less than two weeks. His daughter is demanding the city install surveillance cameras along the path.

Lansing police said in a Wednesday, Sept. 2, news release that Woodruff's death was being investigated as a homicide, the city's sixth of 2026. Officers had responded to the 200 block of East Cesar Chavez Avenue around 3:30 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 31, and found Woodruff unconscious with facial trauma north of the Brenke Fish Ladder in Old Town. He was transported to University of Michigan Health-Sparrow Lansing downtown.

Police said they were still awaiting the cause of death from the medical examiner and had not said whether they believe the attack is connected to the earlier stabbing on the trail.

Woodruff's sister, Marguerite Trainor, 62, of Okemos, told the Lansing State Journal he sustained blunt force trauma to the head.

JoAnna Woodruff, 29, the victim's daughter, told WILX she wants the city to install Flock cameras on the trail.

"If police know that this is occurring, especially at the same spot on the river trail, why aren't there more cameras?" she said.

JoAnna Woodruff told the Lansing State Journal her father had been diagnosed with schizophrenia as a young man, was unmedicated and had been homeless for 15 years. She said she had tried for years to get him help — filing a missing person's report, going through the courts and contacting Adult Protective Services.

The attack came 11 days after Daniel Lusk, 22, was fatally stabbed on the trail in the 300 block of East Michigan Avenue around 4 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 20. That was the city's fifth homicide of the year. No arrests had been reported in the Lusk case as of Aug. 24, according to the Lansing State Journal.

The two incidents occurred at different locations along the trail. No arrests have been announced in either case.

The family's call for Flock cameras comes days after the Lansing City Council voted 7-1 on Aug. 24 to pass a non-binding resolution asking Mayor Andy Schor and the Lansing Police Department to end the city's Flock camera contracts. Council President Peter Spadafore cast the lone vote against the resolution. The city operates 26 Flock cameras at seven locations, according to Lansing Police Chief Rob Backus.

At the Aug. 24 council meeting, Backus defended the cameras, telling council members that cameras remain the top request he receives from victims of violent crimes and their families.

Richard Miles, president of the Friends of the Lansing Regional Trails, told WILX he understands the tension between surveillance and safety. Miles said people don't like being surveilled but called safety "an issue" that requires a trade-off.

Miles advised trail users to avoid walking alone during early morning or late evening hours, to let someone know their route and to remain aware of their surroundings.

After the Aug. 20 Lusk stabbing, Mayor Schor called the incident a "tragedy" but said parks and the river trail "remain safe places" for residents and visitors, he said in a statement to WILX. WILX reported that neither Lansing police nor the Mayor's Office provided comment on the Woodruff case as of Tuesday night, Sept. 1.

Anyone with information about the Woodruff case can call Lansing police at (517) 483-4600 or Crime Stoppers at (517) 483-7867.