In a tragic turn of events on January 12, 2018, the life of Justin Zeno, a 28-year-old Black male from Lafayette, Louisiana, was cut short. His body was discovered inside a vehicle that had been set ablaze in the 200 block of Belleau Street in Lafayette. An investigation by the Lafayette Police Department revealed a grim reality; Zeno had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body, leading authorities to classify his death as a homicide.
The investigation into Zeno's murder
uncovered a connection to another killing that same night. The second victim was identified as 23-year-old Skyler Barry, whose body was found near an unoccupied house in the neighboring city of Broussard. Police determined that both men were shot and killed in Broussard. Following the shootings, Zeno was placed in his own car and driven to Lafayette, where the vehicle was abandoned and set on fire with his body inside.
A significant breakthrough in the case came when investigators identified a white Dodge Caliber that was seen in the vicinity of both crime scenes. This led them to identify two suspects: 19-year-old Tre'von Woods of Jennings, Louisiana, and 29-year-old Christopher Burns of Radcliff, Kentucky. It was discovered that Burns owned a vehicle matching the description of the one seen on surveillance footage.
Acting on this information, Lafayette detectives contacted the Radcliff Police Department in Kentucky, as one of the suspects had ties to the area. On January 31, 2018, Radcliff police located the suspect vehicle with both Woods and Burns inside, and they were taken into custody. Both men were subsequently charged with two counts of first-degree murder and were held in the Hardin County Regional Jail on a $250,000 bond, awaiting extradition back to Louisiana to face legal proceedings.
