In the early morning hours of May 19, 2019, Melvin Webb, a 43-year-old African American man, was fatally shot in the parking lot of Gloria's Bayou Lounge on Salmen Street in Slidell, Louisiana. The incident, which occurred around 1:30 a.m., was captured by an exterior surveillance camera at the lounge. Webb was discovered with a gunshot wound to his head and was transported to Slidell Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.
The investigation into Webb's death revealed a motive rooted in a past crime. Years earlier, in 2012, Webb's cousin, Dwight Ambo, had shot and killed Sherman Deas, the father of Jules 'Pop' Johnson, at the very same bar. Following that incident, Webb assisted his cousin in evading law enforcement, leading to his own conviction for being an accessory to the homicide. This history between the families is believed to have fueled Johnson's desire for revenge against Webb. Webb's wife, who was present at the time of the shooting, identified Johnson as the perpetrator and later recalled seeing him near their home weeks before the murder.
Following the shooting, Jules 'Pop' Johnson, a 34-year-old man from Slidell, fled the state. He was apprehended in Georgia in June 2019. Another man, 31-year-old Tony Maurice Smith of Slidell, was also arrested in connection with the crime. In March 2021, Smith pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact.
Jules Johnson's case went to trial, and in May 2024, a St. Tammany Parish jury found him guilty of second-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. For the murder of Melvin Webb, Johnson received a mandatory life sentence in prison.
