Eric Joseph Whitaker, 51, a Black man, died on January 15, 2022, in New Orleans, Louisiana, after a homicide unfolded at the intersection of Saint Roch Avenue and Benefit Street.
In the days after the killing, detectives worked to piece together what happened at that corner, pushing out early appeals as they tried to map the last movements of everyone connected to the scene.
On January 19, 2022, the New Orleans Police Department publicly asked for help identifying and locating three people—two women and one man—described as persons of interest they wanted to question, stressing that none of the three were wanted on criminal charges at that time but might hold information critical to the case.
As the investigation sharpened, police named another person they believed could help fill in the gaps. On February 2, 2022, NOPD said Tiara Harris had been positively identified as a person of interest and that detectives wanted to interview her, while also emphasizing she was not wanted on criminal charges in the investigation. That same day, authorities announced they had obtained an arrest warrant for Samuel “Duke” Harris, identifying him as the perpetrator and seeking him on one count of second-degree murder tied to the January 15 homicide at Benefit Street and Saint Roch Avenue.
Less than two weeks later, the case moved from search to custody. On February 15, 2022, NOPD’s Violent Offender Warrant Squad arrested Samuel “Duke” Harris without incident and booked him into the Orleans Parish Justice Center, with police stating the warrant was for one count of second-degree murder and that the identification of him as the perpetrator came through the homicide unit’s investigation. Publicly available NOPD releases reviewed here did not describe a later trial outcome or conviction in this matter.
