A dispute between families in New Orleans escalated into a fatal act of retribution, culminating in the death of Alfred Johnson IV. The 23-year-old man was shot during a violent confrontation in the parking lot of a drugstore on Gentilly Boulevard in April 2018. Johnson later succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital after crashing his car near the intersection of Gentilly Boulevard and Elysian Fields Avenue while attempting to flee the scene.
His death was the result of a gun battle that erupted following an argument the previous day.
The events leading to the shooting began with a conflict between Johnson and his girlfriend. The girlfriend's father, Christopher Patterson, believed that Johnson had assaulted his daughter. In response, Patterson, along with a man named Gerald Barnes and a cousin, sought out Johnson. The confrontation turned violent in the drugstore parking lot, where investigators believe Barnes fired the fatal shot from a car being driven by Patterson. During the exchange of gunfire, Johnson apparently shot the unnamed cousin multiple times.
Following an investigation into the deadly shootout, both Gerald Barnes, 29, and Christopher Patterson, 48, were indicted in what prosecutors described as a 'retribution killing.' The bond for both men was set at $400,000. The case moved through the legal system, holding the two suspects accountable for their roles in the violent encounter that led to the untimely death of Alfred Johnson IV.
