On a tragic New Year's Eve in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 74-year-old Angela Haymon was fatally shot at her home in the Woodlawn Acres neighborhood. The incident occurred on December 30, 2019, when two teenage brothers, 15-year-old Xavier Cade and his 16-year-old brother Jerome, arrived at her residence. Hearing a noise, Haymon went to investigate and was tragically shot and killed.
Her husband then exchanged gunfire with Xavier Cade, resulting in the teen being shot.
The subsequent investigation led to the arrest of both brothers. Xavier Cade, identified as the shooter, was charged with Haymon's murder. His brother, Jerome Cade, was charged as a principal to the crime. The case against Xavier was transferred to adult court due to the severity of the charges and his age. Jerome's case, however, remained in the juvenile court system, and his initial charges of principal to murder and armed robbery were later reduced to attempted burglary, for which he received probation.
While awaiting trial, Xavier Cade had further encounters with the law. In one instance, he was arrested for attempting to purchase a handgun with counterfeit money while out on an ankle monitor. Later, he and four other inmates staged a violent escape from the Baton Rouge juvenile detention center where they were being held. He was apprehended and returned to custody. Complicating matters further, his brother Jerome Cade also escaped from a separate facility in March 2021, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Ultimately, in a plea deal, Xavier Cade, then 17, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for manslaughter in the death of Angela Haymon. The family of Angela Haymon expressed their profound loss and the difficulty of putting a number on their mother's life, while also advocating for stricter sentencing for juveniles who commit violent crimes.
