Everett Charles Burns, a 34-year-old male, was fatally shot on November 22, 2017, in Gretna, Louisiana. The incident occurred in the 400 block of Lapalco Boulevard in the late afternoon. Burns had just gotten a haircut at a local barbershop and was walking to a nearby ATM to get cash to pay for the service when he was shot once in the abdomen. Though mortally wounded, Burns managed to walk to his car.
Another customer from the barbershop, a former Navy corpsman, came to his aid and drove him to a nearby hospital in Burns' own vehicle. He was later transferred to a hospital in New Orleans, where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation into the shooting quickly led authorities to identify two suspects: maternal half-brothers Willie Battle and Eddie Salvant. Investigators learned that Battle and Salvant believed Burns was responsible for a shooting incident that had occurred less than two weeks prior. Surveillance video from a business near the barbershop showed two hooded men, whose physical descriptions matched Battle and Salvant, lingering in the parking lot for several minutes before the confrontation with Burns. Witnesses also reported seeing one of the men armed with a pistol shortly before the shooting. After the shooting, a man matching Salvant's build was seen running from the scene holding a pistol, while a man fitting Battle's description walked away calmly.
Following the murder, Battle and Salvant fled the area. The U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force located and arrested Battle in Florida on December 11, 2017. Salvant was apprehended the next day in Harvey, Louisiana. In January 2023, a Jefferson Parish jury found both Willie Battle, then 31, and Eddie Salvant, then 37, guilty of the second-degree murder of Everett Burns. The jury deliberated for less than 50 minutes before reaching their verdict. In addition to the murder conviction, Salvant was also found guilty of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
