On a late December evening in 2019, the life of 28-year-old Dararius Evans, an African American male, was irrevocably altered in Saint-Gabriel, Louisiana. On December 28th, near the LSU AgCenter, a violent encounter left Evans and a companion, 26-year-old Aleysia Maynor, with gunshot wounds. While Maynor tragically died at the scene, Evans was rushed to a local hospital with critical injuries.
Despite medical efforts, Dararius Evans succumbed to his injuries a week later on January 4, 2020.
Before he died, Evans was able to make a crucial 911 call, identifying his shooter by the nickname 'Sneaks.' This piece of information proved vital for law enforcement. The investigation quickly led to the identification and arrest of 21-year-old Jaylon Brown. Initially, Brown denied any part in the shootings. However, he later confessed to the act, though he claimed it was in self-defense against Evans and that Maynor was shot by accident. Brown also led investigators to a storm drain in Baton Rouge where he had disposed of the firearm used in the incident.
Jaylon Brown was charged with two counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of Dararius Evans and Aleysia Maynor. His case went to trial, and in October 2022, a jury found him guilty of the second-degree murder of Dararius Evans and of manslaughter in the death of Aleysia Maynor. For the murder of Evans, Brown received a mandatory sentence of life in prison. He was also sentenced to forty years for the manslaughter conviction, to be served concurrently with his life sentence.
