On an otherwise ordinary August evening in 2022, the life of Earl Ellsworth III, a 23-year-old Black male, was violently cut short in a Metairie apartment. The tragic events of August 25th stemmed not from any action of his own, but from a dispute that had unfolded hours earlier, miles away. A physical altercation had broken out in Marrero involving the girlfriend and mother of a man named Ronald Newton.
Ellsworth was present at this earlier incident but was merely a bystander who recorded the fight on his phone.
Later that evening, fueled by a desire for vengeance after his girlfriend informed him of the fight, a 30-year-old Newton, armed with a rifle, drove to the Pasadena Avenue apartment where he believed the individuals involved in the earlier brawl were located. Upon his arrival around 7:30 p.m., he forcefully entered the apartment where Ellsworth was present with two friends. The three sought refuge by hiding in a bathroom.
Newton, however, was relentless. He kicked down the bathroom door and fired a single shot from a Glock 9mm semiautomatic pistol, striking Ellsworth in the chest. Earl Ellsworth III died at the scene. He had been attempting to load a pistol to defend himself and his friends when he was killed.
Within hours, law enforcement identified Newton as the primary suspect. A U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force apprehended him on August 30, 2022, at a hotel in New Orleans. Newton was subsequently charged with first-degree murder. In March 2024, a Jefferson Parish jury convicted him of the charge. The prosecution successfully argued that Newton's actions were a premeditated act of revenge, and he was ultimately held accountable for the senseless killing of Earl Ellsworth III.
