In the late afternoon of August 25, 2015, the sounds of gunfire shattered the quiet of the 1700 block of LaHarpe Street in New Orleans' 7th Ward, leaving a 39-year-old man dead and a young child wounded. The man, Lenard Reese, a male, was on a porch holding a two-year-old toddler when two men approached. Following a brief exchange of words, the assailants opened fire.
Reese was struck multiple times and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The toddler sustained a gunshot wound to the leg. The brazen nature of the attack drew a swift and strong condemnation from then-New Orleans Police Superintendent Michael Harrison, who described the shooting as a 'senseless,' 'cowardly,' and 'brazen act of violence.' He vowed that the police department would relentlessly pursue the individuals responsible.
In the days following the shooting, the New Orleans Police Department identified Jeremiah Shaw as a suspect in the murder of Lenard Reese and the injury of the young child. Investigators secured a warrant for his arrest on charges of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. The search for Shaw and his alleged accomplice began as the community mourned the loss of Reese. Information regarding the arrest, trial, and conviction of Jeremiah Shaw was not available in the sources.
