In the late hours of a December night in New Orleans, a discovery was made that marked a violent end to a man's life. Floyd Tapson, a 50-year-old male from the nearby city of Slidell, was found inside his pick-up truck on Almonaster Avenue. He had been shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. The grim finding was part of a larger, more chaotic series of events that unfolded that evening, leaving a trail of bloodshed and unanswered questions.
The investigation into Tapson's death quickly revealed that his was not an isolated incident. His murder was linked to a violent home invasion that resulted in a triple homicide. Two other men, Jonathan 'Flee' Hall, 27, and Delmar Noel Soto-Artega, 24, were also killed during the same rampage. Two other individuals were present and survived the attack. The connection between Tapson and the home invasion is that he was one of the three victims of the spree of violence that night.
In connection with the triple homicide, authorities identified a suspect, a 16-year-old named Cedrick Berryhill. He was implicated in the home invasion and the murders of Tapson, Hall, and Soto-Artega. The case against the young suspect was set in motion, though years later the final disposition of the murder charges against him remained unclear, leaving a lingering sense of uncertainty for the families of the victims. The violent night that claimed the life of Floyd Tapson and two others serves as a stark reminder of the sudden and brutal nature of crime in the city.
