In the early evening of June 16, 2022, a dispute that began inside a convenience store in Eunice, Louisiana, spilled out into the parking lot, ending in a burst of gunfire that left two young men dead. One of the victims was 17-year-old Aiden Cade McCauley, a Black male from Eunice. He, along with 18-year-old Stanley Celestine, was found by responding officers in the parking lot of the store at the intersection of West Maple Avenue and Boudreaux Street around 8:00 PM.
Both young men had sustained fatal gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead at the scene.
The Eunice Police Department, which had additional officers patrolling the area as part of a proactive criminal patrol detail, was on the scene within seconds. They quickly identified 25-year-old Travis Godfrey, also of Eunice, as the suspected shooter. Witnesses reported that Godfrey fled the scene in a dark-colored Dodge Challenger. An immediate search for Godfrey was launched, with assistance from the Port Barre and Cankton Police Departments, as well as the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office.
The investigation into the double homicide led to an arrest the very next day, but it was not the primary suspect. On June 17, investigators took 36-year-old Lorraine M. Guillory into custody, accusing her of removing a handgun from one of the victims at the scene. Guillory was charged with obstruction of justice and evidence tampering. A significant breakthrough in the manhunt for the alleged shooter came when the Dodge Challenger that Godfrey had used to flee was located and seized by the police.
A week after the shooting, on June 22, 2022, Travis Godfrey turned himself in to the Eunice Police Department, accompanied by his lawyer. He provided a prepared statement regarding his account of the incident. Godfrey was subsequently arrested and booked into the St. Landry Parish Jail on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of illegal carrying of a weapon. Later, on August 30, a grand jury indicted Godfrey, charging him with the first-degree murder of Paul Celestine and the manslaughter of Aiden McCauley.
