Two men gunned down in broad daylight On a Friday morning in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the air was shattered by gunfire that brought a tragic end to the life of 36-year-old Harold Wayne Anthony. On September 8, 2017, he and his friend, Donovan Cummings, were diligently working on renovating a house on Thomas H. Delpit Drive, a property that had been damaged in the historic floods of the previous year.
At approximately 9:45 a.m., their work was violently interrupted when a gray or silver newer model Mazda CX-9 carrying two to three men pulled up. The occupants of the vehicle emerged and began chasing Anthony and Cummings, opening fire on them. Harold Anthony was pronounced dead at the scene, while Donovan Cummings was rushed to a local hospital, where he too succumbed to his injuries later that day.
The investigation into the brazen daylight murders was immediately hampered by a lack of forthcoming witnesses. Even a friend of Anthony's who lived on the same street claimed to have seen nothing. In the hours that followed the shooting, a series of events unfolded that pointed to a much larger and more complex criminal enterprise. Surveillance footage from Anthony’s home in Greenwell Springs captured his ex-girlfriend, Delita Jolla, and two men, Martrell Harris and Larry Smith, entering his residence. Smith was seen carrying a crowbar, and Harris was later observed leaving with a pillowcase believed to have been filled with a large sum of money. Investigators later uncovered that Harold Anthony was allegedly involved in large-scale drug trafficking with Martrell Harris.
The violence did not end with the deaths of Anthony and Cummings. Just hours after their murders, David Walker, the friend who had been questioned by police and claimed to have no information, was found shot to death in his car on Seneca Street. It was rumored that Walker had in fact witnessed the morning's events. This led to the arrest of Harold Anthony's own brother, Terrell Anthony, in October 2018, for the second-degree murder of David Walker. Investigators believed Terrell Anthony may have been angered that Walker denied knowing anything about his brother's killing. The web of violence and alleged retaliation continued to expand as investigators began to scrutinize a violent drug trafficking organization they believed was responsible for multiple homicides in the Baton Rouge area, allegedly orchestrated by Martrell Harris who was accused of hiring hitmen.
Despite the sprawling investigation and multiple arrests for connected crimes, the murders of Harold Anthony and Donovan Cummings officially remain unsolved. While Martrell Harris, Delita Jolla, and Larry Smith were charged with the burglary of Anthony's home, they have not been charged with his murder. The East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury has heard evidence in related cases but has not returned indictments specifically for the murders of Anthony and Cummings. Law enforcement agencies continue to investigate these homicides, with the cases remaining open in the hope that new evidence will emerge to bring charges against those directly responsible for the deaths of the two men who were simply working on a house that September morning.
