Demontris Toliver, a 25-year-old male, was fatally shot in the early morning hours of November 27, 2016, amidst the bustling holiday weekend crowds on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. A talented tattoo artist from Baton Rouge, he was in his native city to celebrate his birthday. The incident, which occurred around 1:30 a.m. in the 100 block of Bourbon Street, was not a targeted attack on Toliver but rather the tragic result of a dispute between two other men that erupted into a chaotic shootout,
leaving nine other individuals wounded.
The weekend was particularly crowded as New Orleans was hosting the annual Bayou Classic football game, drawing many visitors to the city. Amidst the revelry, an ongoing feud between two men from the Lafayette area, 20-year-old Jordan Clay and 20-year-old Travon Manuel, reached a violent climax. The two men encountered each other on the crowded street and began shooting at one another. Toliver, an innocent bystander, was caught in the crossfire and sustained a fatal injury.
Following the shooting, the New Orleans Police Department launched an intensive investigation. Within days, both Jordan Clay and Travon Manuel were identified as the shooters and apprehended. Both men were arrested and subsequently charged with one count of second-degree murder and nine counts of attempted second-degree murder. Investigators determined that the two suspects knew each other and that the shooting stemmed from an ongoing dispute between them.
The legal proceedings for the two suspects were severed. Travon Manuel went to trial in June 2019. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the second-degree murder charge, resulting in a mistrial on that count. He was, however, found guilty of attempted manslaughter by a non-unanimous jury verdict. This conviction was later vacated in April 2022, in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling that deemed non-unanimous jury verdicts in state felony trials unconstitutional. Manuel was also found guilty of attempted obstruction of justice by a unanimous jury, a conviction that was upheld. For this charge, he was sentenced to twenty years in prison. The court had set a pre-trial date for a retrial on the second-degree murder charge following the initial mistrial, though further outcomes of that specific charge are not detailed in the available information. The final legal disposition for the second suspect, Jordan Clay, on the charge of second-degree murder is not readily available in online sources.
