In the early summer of 2016, a grim discovery was made in the small community of Natalbany, Louisiana. On June 3rd, the body of 18-year-old Marquise Lightfoot, an African American male, was found lying in the yard of a home off McGee Lane on Jimmy Drive. The discovery sent a chill through the neighborhood, not only because of the youth of the victim, but also because it came just a day after two other men had been found deceased inside a vehicle merely a block away. While originally from Houston, Marquise had ties to Natalbany through his mother, and his sudden and violent death there would soon unravel a story of betrayal and a family's attempt to conceal a terrible crime.
The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office immediately treated the case as a homicide, and their investigation soon focused on a 22-year-old man named Antoine Schaffer. Investigators determined that Schaffer was responsible for the shooting death of Lightfoot. At the time of the murder investigation, Schaffer was already incarcerated for an unrelated home invasion that had occurred in the nearby city of Hammond just a couple of days after Lightfoot's body was discovered. Schaffer had a history with the law, being on probation for a 2013 conviction for attempted armed robbery and having faced drug and weapons charges in 2015.
The investigation did not end with Antoine Schaffer. As detectives delved deeper into the circumstances surrounding Marquise Lightfoot's death, they uncovered a plot to hinder their efforts. Schaffer's own family members were implicated in the cover-up. His grandmother, Debra Knight, was taken into custody and charged with accessory to first-degree murder, obstruction of justice, and illegal consideration for criminal bail bonds after it was determined she had provided false information to investigators. Schaffer's mother, Letanya Schaffer, was also arrested and charged with obstruction of justice. A fourth individual, Keirashelya Augustus, was arrested as well in connection with the case.
Following the arrests, Antoine Schaffer faced charges of first-degree murder and obstruction of justice. He was held on a bond of $1,050,000. Debra Knight's bond was set at $325,000. The arrests brought a sense of resolution to the initial mystery surrounding the discovery of Marquise Lightfoot's body, revealing a dark narrative of a life cut short and the subsequent efforts to hide the truth.
