On a tragic evening in New Iberia, Louisiana, Fabeka Shainna Hayes, a 31-year-old female, lost her life in a violent encounter. The events unfolded on May 12, 2020, as she was concluding her shift at a local Church's Fried Chicken. Her recent ex-boyfriend, Clarence Payton, was waiting for her in the parking lot. Surveillance footage from the scene captured the terrifying moments as Hayes exited the building, only to quickly turn and run back inside in an attempt to escape Payton.
Her fellow employees tried to secure the door to protect her, but Payton forced his way into the establishment.
Once inside, Payton shot Hayes in the head, then proceeded to take her purse before fleeing the scene. The New Iberia Police Department launched an investigation and soon located Payton hiding under a nearby vehicle. Investigators also recovered a significant amount of evidence from a nearby house, including Hayes' purse and phone, the weapon used in the shooting, and bloodstained clothing. Subsequent forensic analysis confirmed that DNA found on the clothing belonged to Payton, solidly linking him to the crime.
In the face of the overwhelming evidence against him, Clarence Payton pleaded guilty to charges of manslaughter and armed robbery on January 20, 2023, just before his jury trial was scheduled to commence. He was sentenced to a total of fifty years in prison. The sentence consisted of forty years at hard labor for the death of Fabeka Hayes and a consecutive ten-year sentence for the armed robbery, to be served without the possibility of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. The prosecution of the case was handled by the 16th Judicial District Attorney's Office, with the Acadiana Criminalistics Laboratory providing the scientific analysis that was crucial to securing the conviction.
