'Don't nobody want to step up': Crime scene tape stripes Central City after recent gun violence - NOLA.com

Crime scene technicians had already taken their pictures by 8:30 a.m. Thursday (Feb. 15) at the Central City intersection where, about an hour and a half earlier, a man was shot in the head, according to police.

A gray pickup truck, which a bystander said had its engine running as New Orleans police investigated that morning, had already been towed away for NOPD to process as evidence. Firefighters had already washed down the corner of Josephine and Magnolia streets where the bystander said a pool of blood had lain.

But long strands, and bits of yellow crime scene tape, reading in black letters, "POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS," remained scattered throughout the neighborhood. 

Before getting in her car, a woman in the neighborhood on Thursday scooped up a fresh pile of the yellow stuff and dumped it in a nearby city trashcan. But in a radius of just a few blocks, yellow tape remained tied to fences, telephone poles, porch railings, lying across backyards and in the middle of the street. Some of them appeared to be from old crime scenes, faded and weathered.

The previous morning (Feb. 14), a man was shot dead a block away, near the corner of St. Andrew and Magnolia streets. A little more than a week earlier, Michael Hunter, 30, was shot dead on the other end of the same block as Thursday's shooting, at Josephine and Clara streets. The still unidentified man killed Wednesday was the sixth man who was fatally shot in a one-mile radius in Central City in less than a month.

Stuffed animals, printed photos, candles and wax dotting the street marked another reminder of the gun violence in those blocks. A candle was still lit Thursday morning at the feet of stuffed animals that were part of a memorial for Hunter. The vigil was two days ago, a neighbor said, but, "They light them every day," she added. The collection of stuffed animals and a gold "M" balloon surrounded printed photos of Hunter, all set up in front of the house where his body lay nine days earlier before the Orleans Parish Coroner's Office van took it away.

Catty-corner from Hunter's memorial was another collection of stuffed animals and candles to memorialize Thaddeus "Hammie" Jackson, 26, who was killed Jan. 29 inside his girlfriend's apartment in Gert Town. His girlfriend, Jacquline Williams, 33, was also fatally shot in the apartment. Jackson's family and friends had set up the memorial for him in Central City.

Other people shot dead within a mile in Central City in the last month include:

• Joshua Everett, 27, who was killed Feb. 2 in the 2800 block of South Johnson Street.
• Estevan Pleasant, 52, who was shot dead Jan. 25 in the 2400 block of Willow Street.
• Adam Ross, 35, who is the brother of New Orleans performer Big Freedia. He was shot dead Jan. 25 in the 2600 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
• Dalton Bennett, 21, who was shot dead Jan. 28 near South Claiborne Avenue and First Street. 

During a press conference Wednesday to address Mardi Gras violence, NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison attributed a recent spike in murder in New Orleans to gang violence in Central City and in the 9th Ward.

Five people were shot, including two who were killed, in the Lower 9th Ward shortly after 8 p.m. on Mardi Gras. Another person was fatally shot on the St. Charles Avenue parade route, and two teenagers were wounded in a shooting along the parade route in the Central Business District.

Harrison said detectives believed the 9th Ward shooting was gang related. Beau Tidwell, a spokesman for the department, said NOPD would not comment on the potential gang affiliation of individual victims of the Lower 9th shooting. He said investigators hadn't determined if the parade route shootings was linked to gang activity. 

New Orleans Murder Map 2018

Neighbors in Central City who have more than once in recent weeks had their street blocked by police cars and crime scene tape had differing opinions about the violence.

"This is a good neighborhood, you just got to stay out of the mix of the foolishness," said a 45-year-old man who had been staying at a friend's home nearby. Speaking of Thursday's gunshot victim who was shot in the head, the man said he felt, "sorry he got shot," adding, "I hope he make it through." He said many of the people who live there are "nice people that just mind their business and try to do right."

A woman who was walking near Hunter's memorial, Lisa Navarre, said most people tend to attribute the killings and shootings to drugs, but she does not think that's always the case. "It's personal s---," she said. 

Navarre lost her own son, Sadiki Navarre, to gun violence nearly five years ago, she said, "Due to gang s---." He was 24. 

"They stole his life... They killed my baby just for association, just cause he knew somebody."

It's still a cold case, Navarre said, and she misses her son "dearly." On March 12, the anniversary of her son's death, she said, she plans to host a vigil for him -- one of many in the neighborhood for the families left behind by young men killed in shootings. 

"Something need to be done," Navarre said. "Don't nobody want to step up."  

Staff photographer Chris Granger contributed to this report. 

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