In the late hours of a September night in Raceland, Louisiana, the sound of gunfire shattered the quiet on St. Louis Street. When Lafourche Parish Sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 24, 2022, they discovered a man who had been shot. The victim was identified as 37-year-old Lorenzo Stuart, a male resident of nearby Lockport. Despite the efforts of first responders, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The shooting was believed to have taken place in the 700 block of St. Louis Street.
The investigation into Lorenzo Stuart's death quickly became a priority for detectives. As they pieced together the events of that fatal night, a suspect emerged. Investigators identified 20-year-old Jyairus Folse, also from Lockport, as the individual allegedly responsible for the shooting. At the time of the investigation into Stuart's homicide, Folse was already in custody on an unrelated attempted murder charge stemming from a shooting that had occurred earlier that month on Ayo Street in Raceland.
In a significant development, on Tuesday, November 1, 2022, detectives questioned Jyairus Folse about the September 24th shooting. Following this interview, Folse was officially charged with the second-degree murder of Lorenzo Stuart. This charge was added to the list of accusations he was already facing, which included attempted second-degree murder, illegal possession of a stolen firearm, possession of marijuana, and taking contraband to a penal institution. Another individual, 23-year-old Jamyren Richard of Raceland, was also implicated in the earlier September 8th shooting and charged with attempted murder in that incident.
