Jace Lee Scott was a 19-year-old Black/African American male whose life ended in a shooting shortly after midnight on November 24, 2019, inside the Small Business Incubator Building on the campus of Southern University at New Orleans. New Orleans police were called to the 6800 block of Press Drive at approximately 12:03 a.m. after a report that someone had been shot. Officers found Scott suffering from a gunshot wound to the neck.
He received emergency medical attention but died from the injury, and the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office later identified a gunshot wound as his preliminary cause of death. Although the shooting occurred on the SUNO campus, university officials said Scott was neither a student nor an employee of the university.
Police quickly identified 20-year-old Andrew Gant as the person who fired the fatal shot. According to court records reported immediately after the killing, Gant acknowledged shooting Scott and told investigators that the two had been “play fighting” while handling firearms. Gant said they pointed guns at one another and that after Scott allegedly pointed a gun toward him a second time, he became frightened and fired. Other people who were present reportedly told investigators the two young men had engaged in similar behavior before and said they believed the shooting had been accidental rather than intentional.
The investigation did not end with the shooting itself. Gant told police that after firing the shot, he disposed of the firearm by throwing it into a body of water. That action resulted in an obstruction-of-justice allegation in addition to the charge arising from Scott’s death. Gant was arrested and booked into the Orleans Parish Justice Center on charges of negligent homicide and obstruction of justice. A magistrate set his bond at $12,500, and he was released shortly afterward under conditions that included house arrest and an ankle monitor. His case continued through Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, with an early court appearance scheduled for December 20, 2019.
Scott’s mother, Shanta Scott, publicly challenged the account that her son had been casually pointing a firearm at Gant. She said she did not believe her son had a gun and did not accept the explanation that the shooting was simply the result of friends playing around with weapons. She recalled seeing Jace leave home with Gant that night and believed he was going to participate in a music recording session. Hours later, rather than receiving an official notification that something had happened, she learned that her son had been shot after receiving an early-morning call connected to his college band community.
Music had been an important part of Scott’s life. He had played mellophone with the Talladega College marching band, and his mother said he hoped to become a band director. Those who knew him described a young man with strong interests in music and a future that appeared to be taking shape. In the days after his death, friends and relatives gathered to remember him, and musicians participated in a memorial for him while his family continued pressing investigators for a fuller explanation of what had happened inside the SUNO building.
The criminal case ultimately did not result in a murder conviction. Later reporting on the proceedings states that Andrew Gant was convicted of negligent homicide. Judge Nandi Campbell imposed a five-year deferred sentence, and Gant did not receive a prison term. Reports discussing the eventual disposition focus on the negligent-homicide conviction and do not clearly establish a separate conviction on the original obstruction-of-justice charge stemming from the alleged disposal of the gun.
Years after the shooting, Scott’s family has continued to dispute the circumstances presented in the original investigation. Shanta Scott and supporters have repeatedly sought additional scrutiny of the case and have called for an independent or federal review. Their concerns have included the fact that Andrew Gant’s father, Victor Gant Jr., was a New Orleans police officer. The family and activists have alleged that the relationship created conflicts in the handling of the investigation and have questioned whether the evidence fully supported the claim that both young men were pointing guns at one another. Those accusations remain allegations raised by Scott’s family and supporters rather than findings of a criminal court against Victor Gant.
By 2026, the family was still publicly seeking further action, including renewed examination of the investigation and more serious accountability for Andrew Gant. The legal outcome that followed the original prosecution, however, remained the negligent-homicide conviction and deferred sentence. For Scott’s family, the conclusion of that prosecution did not settle the central questions surrounding the shooting. They have continued to maintain that Jace’s death was not adequately explained by the “play fighting” account and have kept his case before New Orleans officials and the public in an effort to obtain what they consider a complete accounting of the events that led to his death.
