On a summer morning in New Orleans, 26-year-old Juan Carter, an African-American male, was on his way to a court hearing, a journey that would tragically be his last. It was July 7, 2011, and as he traveled with his mother, a black truck suddenly pulled alongside their vehicle, and a barrage of gunfire erupted. Carter was fatally wounded in the brazen daylight attack.
At the time of his death, Carter was facing a double murder charge from an incident that had occurred in 2010.
His family maintained his innocence and believed the upcoming court date would have been his opportunity to clear his name. The narrative of his death, however, quickly became intertwined with the very case he was set to stand trial for.
In a swift turn of events, the New Orleans Police Department made an arrest that pointed to a motive of vigilante justice. The man taken into custody and charged with Carter's murder was Bokio Johnson, the father of one of the individuals Carter was accused of killing in the 2010 case. The arrest suggested that the shooting was a calculated act of retaliation, a father's response to the alleged murder of his child. Johnson was subsequently held in custody, facing a murder charge for the death of Juan Carter.
