A beloved figure in the New Orleans cultural landscape, 55-year-old Kim Boutte, a female, was tragically killed on August 11, 2020. Known as 'Big Queen Kim 'Cutie' Boutte,' she was a prominent Mardi Gras Indian queen, leading the Spirit of Fi Yi Yi and the Mandingo Warriors. Her death sent ripples of grief through a community that revered her as a cultural bearer and a devoted teacher of tradition.
On that Tuesday evening, Boutte was attending a funeral repast in New Orleans East.
The gathering was for a man who had himself been a recent victim of gun violence. As mourners gathered outside an event hall on Read Boulevard, gunfire erupted. Boutte, an innocent bystander, was struck by a stray bullet. She and a man also wounded in the shooting were rushed to a local hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries. The man was reported to be in stable condition.
The senseless violence that claimed the life of a cherished community leader drew widespread condemnation. Friends, family, and fellow members of the Black Masking Indian community gathered to mourn her, remembering her as a spiritual and vibrant soul who had been a part of the tradition since she was five years old. Her uncle, Big Chief Victor Harris, lamented the loss of someone so integral to their culture.
In the wake of the shooting, the New Orleans Police Department began an investigation, but at the time, no suspect or motive was immediately identified. Despite pleas from the community for justice, there have been no subsequent public announcements regarding any arrests or the identification of any suspects in the years following her death. The case of who killed Big Queen Kim Boutte remains unresolved, a painful open wound for the city of New Orleans and all who knew and loved her.
