In the early morning hours of September 6, 2021, a domestic disturbance call led Krotz Springs police to a grim discovery. On the front porch of a home on Seventh Avenue, they found the body of 61-year-old John Barker. He had been shot five times. The investigation into the death of the male victim would unravel a story of a recently rekindled relationship that ended in violence.
John Barker and his ex-wife, Margaret Yvette Barker, had been divorced for some time but had recently begun seeing each other again. This reconciliation, however, took a fatal turn. On that fateful morning, an argument erupted between the former couple. The conflict escalated, culminating in Margaret Barker shooting her ex-husband. The shooting occurred on the front porch of her home, where John Barker was struck by five 9mm bullets in his right flank as he was turned away from her. He died within minutes. Their daughter, Cierra Barker, had called 911 during the altercation, telling the operator she believed her father was going to try to kill her mother. She also informed the operator that her mother, who worked as a security guard, had her gun.
Following the incident, 49-year-old Margaret Yvette Barker was arrested and charged with the murder of her ex-husband. Investigators utilized phone records, bullet trajectory analysis, and witness testimonies to build their case against her. The evidence presented during the trial painted a clear picture of the events that transpired on that September morning. In March 2024, a St. Landry Parish jury took just over forty minutes to find Margaret Yvette Barker guilty of second-degree murder. The conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. In April 2024, she was formally sentenced to life in prison.
