Brandon Arnold was a 19-year-old Black man working at a Waffle House in Lafayette, Louisiana. His life was cut short on the night of Sunday, June 27, 2021. Around 10:45 p.m., police were called to the restaurant in the 1800 block of North University Avenue for a report of shots fired. They arrived to find Brandon in the parking lot, deceased from gunshot wounds. A second man, 19-year-old Xavier Batiste, was discovered inside a car at the scene with multiple gunshot wounds.
He was rushed to a local hospital but died shortly after arriving.
The Lafayette Police Department launched a double homicide investigation. Investigators soon came to believe that the motive for the shooting was a robbery. They also determined that Brandon Arnold himself was the intended target of the robbery, not the Waffle House where he was employed.
The day after the shooting, on June 28, a suspect turned himself in to authorities. Dejuan Clay, who was 23 years old at the time, surrendered to the Lafayette Police Department. During their investigation, police determined that the second victim, Xavier Batiste, had been inside the vehicle driven by Clay at the time of the incident.
Following his arrest, Clay was charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, obstruction of justice, illegal use of a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm, and false representation. He was booked into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center. The case reached its conclusion nearly three years later. In February 2024, Dejuan Clay pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of manslaughter in connection with the death of Brandon Arnold. He was sentenced to serve eight years at hard labor.
