In the late afternoon of a Sunday in Lafayette, Louisiana, the life of 37-year-old John Paul Batiste of Arnaudville tragically ended. On October 23, 2016, police responded to a call in the 100 block of Philomine Street around 5:15 p.m. to find Batiste in the roadway, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to a local hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation into the shooting quickly pointed to a suspect, 17-year-old Brian Keith Harris of
Lafayette. In the days following the incident, the Lafayette Police Department publicly identified Harris as the alleged shooter. Shortly after, Harris turned himself in to the authorities. Another individual, Kirt Favors, was also sought for questioning in connection with the homicide, though his level of involvement remained part of the ongoing investigation.
In February 2017, a grand jury indicted Brian Keith Harris, who had since turned 18, on a charge of second-degree murder for the death of John Paul Batiste. Following the indictment, he was held at the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center with a bond set at $500,000. The charge of second-degree murder carried a mandatory sentence of life in prison if convicted. The final disposition of the case against Brian Keith Harris is not readily available in public records. While an obituary for a John Paul Batiste who passed away in 2017 in Church Point exists, it is for an older individual and appears to be unrelated to the victim of the 2016 shooting. Details regarding the ethnicity of John Paul Batiste, the victim of the Philomine Street shooting, have not been made available in the examined online sources.
