On the evening of March 20, 2020, a sense of normalcy was shattered for a Baton Rouge family. In the backyard of their home on Bles Avenue, 17-year-old Christian Dunbar was found suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. The sounds that his mother, Terrelyn Matthews, initially heard, she would later recall, were mistaken by her daughter for firecrackers. A mother's intuition, however, led her to the backyard where she discovered her son lying on the ground.
Christian, a male, was pronounced dead at the scene, leaving his family heartbroken and searching for answers. The initial investigation by the Baton Rouge Police Department was complicated by the city-wide shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which Matthews feels hindered the process from the start.
In the immediate aftermath, there was a flurry of activity, yet it yielded little in the way of concrete answers for a grieving mother. Matthews has stated that she believes she knows who is responsible for her son's death, suggesting it was the culmination of a dispute with a group of boys from another neighborhood. She recounted to investigators that there were two individuals in the backyard with her son at the time of the shooting. Although police did take some individuals into custody for questioning about a month after the incident, they were later released, and the investigation seemed to stall. This lack of progress only deepened the family's anguish and frustration.
Months turned into a year with no arrests made in Christian's murder. A glimmer of hope emerged in January 2021 when a friend of Christian's came forward with information about an argument that had taken place on Instagram Live on the day of the shooting. During this online altercation, the individuals involved allegedly challenged Christian to a fight, telling him to 'pull up.' This information, including the names and addresses of those allegedly involved, was passed on to the detective handling the case. Despite this new lead, the case has remained open, with no arrests or formal charges filed in connection with the death of Christian Dunbar. His mother continues to advocate for justice for her son, hoping that a renewed focus on the case will finally bring those responsible to light and provide her family with some measure of peace.
