Cornelius 'Ponnie' Garrison, a 54-year-old male, was fatally shot on September 22, 2020, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His death was not a random act of violence but the final chapter in a complex scheme of fraud and betrayal. Just four days prior to his murder, Garrison had been indicted for his role in a widespread conspiracy involving staged automobile accidents with tractor-trailers designed to defraud insurance companies.
Unbeknownst to his co-conspirators, Garrison had been covertly cooperating with federal investigators for nearly a year, providing them with information about the elaborate fraud ring.
The investigation into Garrison's murder revealed a plot to silence a federal witness. Authorities arrested Ryan J. Harris, then 35, and his girlfriend, Jovanna R. Gardner, then 39, in connection with the killing. Federal prosecutors alleged that Harris and Gardner murdered Garrison to prevent him from further assisting the government and exposing the full extent of the staged accident enterprise. The indictment against the pair included serious charges, such as conspiracy to commit witness tampering through murder and retaliation against a witness through murder.
In the ensuing legal proceedings, the case against Harris and Gardner solidified. Jovanna Gardner eventually pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit witness tampering. According to court records, Gardner admitted that her boyfriend, Ryan Harris, was the one who killed Cornelius Garrison to stop his cooperation with the federal investigation. In a separate proceeding, Ryan J. Harris also pleaded guilty, admitting to his role as a 'slammer' in the staged collisions and to aiding and abetting in the murder of a cooperating federal witness. As part of a plea agreement, Harris agreed to a sentence of 35 years in prison for his crimes, which included causing a death through the use of a firearm.
