In the early morning hours of June 14, 2020, the sounds of a party on St. Louis Street in Raceland, Louisiana, were tragically silenced by gunfire. Among the crowd was 20-year-old Tanasa Janae Francis, a young woman who found herself in the wrong place at the utterly wrong time. She, along with 21-year-old Aliza Gabriel, were innocent bystanders caught in a senseless act of violence that would abruptly end both of their lives.
The Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office had been called to the
scene just after midnight to address a disturbance at the large gathering. Shortly after deputies arrived, chaos erupted as shots were fired into the crowd. In the ensuing panic, it was discovered that Francis and Gabriel had been struck. Despite the immediate efforts of deputies and other partygoers to perform CPR while awaiting emergency medical services, their injuries proved fatal, and both women were pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation into the double homicide quickly pointed to a preceding altercation at the party. Detectives learned that a fight had broken out, during which a man brandished a glass bottle and struck another individual. The investigation identified 28-year-old Cordale Richard of Raceland as the alleged perpetrator of the shooting that followed. It is believed that after the initial fight and the arrival of law enforcement, Richard fired several shots into the crowd, tragically hitting Francis and Gabriel.
Within days, on June 17, 2020, the Lafourche Parish Interagency Crisis Management Unit executed arrest and search warrants at Richard's residence on St. Louis Street. He was taken into custody without incident. During questioning, Richard confessed to the shooting. He was subsequently booked into the Lafourche Parish Correctional Complex on two counts of First Degree Murder, as well as charges for Aggravated Battery and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. He is being held without bail.
