In the late summer of 2017 in New Orleans, a burst of gunfire shattered the evening calm in the Desire neighborhood, forever altering the lives of two families. Inside a residence, 25-year-old Terry Jones, a Black male, and his friend, 22-year-old Cierra Green, were targeted in a violent shooting. When the chaos subsided, Green, a mother to three young daughters, was found fatally wounded on a sofa. Jones was discovered on the living room floor, critically injured.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he fought for his life for several days before ultimately succumbing to his injuries on September 6, 2017.
The investigation into the double homicide led authorities to 33-year-old Rodney T. Marsh. In June 2019, nearly two years after the deadly shooting, Marsh appeared in court, not for a trial by jury, but to accept a plea agreement that had been negotiated with the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office. With the consent of the families of both Terry Jones and Cierra Green, Marsh pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter. This plea spared the families the emotional toll of a lengthy and uncertain murder trial.
Following the acceptance of his guilty plea, the presiding judge, Keva Landrum-Johnson, sentenced Rodney T. Marsh to 40 years in prison for his role in the deaths of Jones and Green. The resolution brought a measure of closure to a case that had left a community reeling and two young lives tragically cut short.
