In the late summer of 2021, a domestic dispute in Shreveport, Louisiana, escalated to a tragic conclusion, leaving one brother dead and the other facing a lifetime behind bars. Cedric Fuller, a 45-year-old male, was shot and killed on August 17, 2021, at his home on Baxter Street in the Mooretown neighborhood. The fatal encounter stemmed from an argument over money with his own brother.
The conflict reached a deadly impasse when Cedric’s brother, Carlin Cotton, then 53, produced a
firearm and shot Fuller five times in the back. Following the shooting, Cotton himself contacted 9-1-1 and admitted to what he had done. However, in a turn of events, he fled the scene before authorities could arrive, sparking a manhunt that would last for two months.
The search for Carlin Cotton concluded in the neighboring Bossier City, where he was located and taken into custody. His capture marked the beginning of a legal process that would ultimately hold him accountable for his brother's death. In January 2023, a Caddo District Court jury found Carlin Cotton guilty of the second-degree murder of Cedric Fuller. The conviction carried a heavy and mandatory consequence: a life sentence in prison, ensuring that the resolution to a familial dispute would be a lifetime of separation and incarceration.
