Father of 4 shot dead in broad daylight at a busy intersection
On a Friday afternoon in New Orleans, September 12, 2014, Shandon Barnes Jr., a 26-year-old Black male, was driving his blue Chevrolet Trailblazer in the Algiers neighborhood. Known to his loved ones as "Big Man," the father of four was on Flanders Street at around 4 p.m. when another vehicle, described as a 4-door silver car, pulled up and someone inside opened fire. The sudden burst of gunfire shattered the afternoon calm, and Shandon was struck multiple times, including a fatal wound to the head. His Trailblazer, now without a driver, veered off the road and crashed into the fence of a two-story apartment building near the intersection of Socrates and Flanders streets. When authorities arrived at the chaotic scene, they found Shandon slumped over the steering wheel. He was pronounced dead right there in his vehicle.
The investigation into the brazen daylight shooting began immediately. Detectives started to piece together the events leading up to the murder, exploring the possibility that the shooting was not a random act of violence. Information surfaced suggesting that Shandon had been involved in a confrontation a couple of months prior, leading police to consider the killing might have been a retaliatory act. As they delved deeper into the case, a potential lead emerged. Two months after the homicide, investigators publicly announced they were searching for a man named Wellington Cornin, Sr., who was 24 at the time. They believed Cornin might have crucial information that could shed light on the circumstances surrounding Shandon's death.
Despite this public call for information, Wellington Cornin, Sr. was never formally charged or accused in connection with the murder of Shandon Barnes Jr. The case grew cold, leaving a family to grieve without answers. About a year later, Cornin was arrested for the separate shooting death of another 26-year-old man, Aaron Bannister. He eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter in that case and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. While authorities felt they were getting closer to identifying a suspect in Shandon's murder, they indicated that more information was needed to bring the case to court. To this day, the murder of Shandon Barnes Jr. remains unsolved, and his case is still considered open.
