On the morning of April 4, 2016, 28-year-old Dawn Scott was found shot to death in her Kenner, Louisiana, apartment on Idaho Street. She and her boyfriend, 31-year-old Raynell Kimbrough, were discovered in their bedroom, having been shot multiple times. Tragically, Scott's infant daughter was in the bed with her at the time of the shooting but was unharmed.
Two other children, ages 10 and 2, were also in the home and were not physically injured.
The grim discovery was made by Scott's 10-year-old son, who heard the gunshots, found the couple, and ran to a neighbor for help. Investigators determined that the assailant had entered the apartment through a back door. Witnesses reported seeing a gold-colored vehicle leaving the apartment complex shortly after the shooting. There were no signs of forced entry into the home.
The investigation quickly led police to a person of interest, Shaun Barnett, a 28-year-old Avondale man who was reportedly a friend of the couple. He was initially detained on a parole violation. Evidence, including cell phone data, a license plate recognition system, and DNA from blood found on a jacket at his home, connected him to the crime scene.
Prosecutors stated that Barnett had been out with Kimbrough at a daiquiri shop the night before the murders. An argument with Scott reportedly preceded the fatal events. Barnett left the couple's apartment only to return later with the intent to kill them. He shot Scott in the head as she slept next to her child, and when Kimbrough awoke, Barnett shot him in the face and body. Before leaving, he shot Scott a second time.
In January 2018, a Jefferson Parish jury convicted Shaun Barnett of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. The following month, he was sentenced to two mandatory life sentences in prison, one for each victim, ensuring he would spend the rest of his life behind bars for the murders of Dawn Scott and Raynell Kimbrough.
