On the morning of August 14, 2021, 29-year-old Lindsey Williams, a white female, was found shot to death in the bedroom of her Marrero, Louisiana, home. The tragic discovery was made after her 11-year-old son heard a noise from his mother's room. When he opened the door, he saw his mother's ex-boyfriend, Shawn Chiasson, with blood on his hands. Chiasson then used the boy's cellphone to call 911, giving the operator the name 'Jake' and reporting that someone had been shot before fleeing the
scene, leaving the young boy alone with his dying mother.
Investigators with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office quickly identified 28-year-old Shawn Chiasson as the suspect in Williams's murder. He was apprehended two days later. The night before the shooting, Williams had been out with friends when Chiasson reportedly sent her a text message saying, 'I'm looking dead at you.' It was later revealed that Williams had been allowing Chiasson to stay at her home until he found a job, although they were no longer a couple. Chiasson had a criminal history that included a prior conviction for heroin possession, which legally prohibited him from owning a firearm.
During his trial for the second-degree murder of Lindsey Williams, the prosecution began presenting its case. Jurors heard testimony from Williams's mother and were in the midst of hearing from another ex-girlfriend of Chiasson's, who was detailing an alleged assault by him while she was pregnant, when Chiasson decided to change his plea. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, as well as to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and obstruction of justice. The obstruction charge stemmed from his attempt to hide the murder weapon by dumping the pistol along a canal bank in Westwego. Following his guilty plea, a judge sentenced Shawn Chiasson to the mandatory life sentence for murder, 20 years for the firearm charge, and 40 years for obstruction of justice, with the sentences to be served concurrently.
