In the heart of New Orleans, a mother's life was irrevocably altered on a late September day. Her youngest son, 18-year-old Mylan Lassai, a male with a constant smile, walked out of his home on September 28, 2017, with a promise to return for the French fries his mother had just cooked. It was a promise he would tragically be unable to keep. That evening, in the 7th Ward at the intersection of North Rocheblave and Allen streets, gunfire erupted.
Mylan was caught in the barrage of bullets along with three other men. While the other victims survived their injuries, Mylan was not as fortunate; he was the sole fatality in the shooting.
The aftermath of the violence left a tangible sense of grief in the community. At the scene of the shooting, Mylan's bicycle lay on the ground near a memorial that his brother, Dorion Watson, had spray-painted. Watson remembered his younger brother as a high school student with aspirations for a life beyond the 'trenches' of their neighborhood. Friends and family gathered, their tears a testament to the young life that had been cut short. They recalled Mylan as a good kid with a loving attitude who brought joy to those around him.
In the days that followed, the pain of Mylan's mother, Cindy Lassai, was palpable. She spoke of the surreal nature of her loss, the expectation that her son would still walk through the door, his voice filling their home once more. She lamented the senselessness of the gun violence that had stolen her son, leaving a void that could never be filled. Her family was forever changed, her two sons now reduced to one.
The New Orleans Police Department launched an investigation into the deadly shooting. However, in the immediate wake of the incident, they did not release any information regarding a potential motive or any suspects. The case, like so many others, became an ongoing investigation, leaving a family and a community waiting for answers and for justice that has yet to come. The investigation into the death of Mylan Lassai remains unresolved, with no publicly announced arrests or identified suspects in the years that have passed since his untimely death.
