In the early morning hours of January 28, 2018, the joyous celebration of a wedding took a tragic turn, leaving one man dead and a community in search of answers. Byron Dewayne Jenkins Sr., a 36-year-old male from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was fatally shot at what was supposed to be a festive after-party for his friend's wedding. Jenkins had served as the best man for the groom, Christopher Jerome Sterling.
The gathering was held at Sterling and Sterling Detail Shop on Scenic Highway, a business co-owned by Sterling.
The night of celebration turned into a scene of violence when gunfire erupted. When police arrived at the scene around 3:00 a.m., they discovered Jenkins in the parking lot, suffering from gunshot wounds. He succumbed to his injuries at the scene. Another individual, a 23-year-old female, was also injured in the shooting but her injuries were not life-threatening. In the immediate aftermath, there were no known suspects or motives, leaving the investigation in its nascent stages as authorities appealed to the public for any information that could shed light on the tragic event.
The investigation into Byron Jenkins' death took a significant turn over a year later, leading to the arrest of the groom himself, not for the shooting, but for allegedly concealing crucial evidence. In February 2020, Christopher Jerome Sterling was taken into custody and charged with obstruction of justice and accessory after the fact to second-degree murder. Authorities alleged that Sterling had intentionally tampered with the surveillance system at his detail shop to protect the identity of the person who shot and killed his best man.
According to police reports, Sterling initially claimed that his surveillance system was not operational at the time of the shooting. However, detectives received anonymous tips suggesting otherwise. These tips indicated that the cameras were indeed working and that Sterling had removed the DVR box before police arrived. The investigation gained further traction in May 2019 when authorities obtained photographs of Jenkins inside the business shortly before his death, with the camera monitors visibly active in the background. This evidence contradicted Sterling's claims and led to his arrest. Despite this development in the case, the individual who actually fired the shots that killed Byron Jenkins has not been publicly identified or apprehended, leaving a sense of unresolved justice for his family and friends.
