In the early morning hours of April 4, 2016, a horrific scene unfolded inside an apartment in Kenner, Louisiana, ending the lives of 31-year-old Raynell Kimbrough and his 28-year-old girlfriend, Dawn Scott. The couple was discovered shot to death in their bed, a crime made even more chilling by the presence of their infant child, who was lying unharmed between them.
Two other children, ages 10 and 2, were also in the home at the time but were not physically injured.
The grim discovery was made by Scott's 10-year-old son, who heard the gunshots and went to his mother's bedroom. Finding the devastating scene, he bravely alerted a neighbor, who then called 911. When police arrived at the apartment in the 2100 block of Idaho Street, they found Kimbrough on the floor and Scott in the bed. Both had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. There were no signs of forced entry into the residence.
The investigation quickly focused on a friend of the couple, Shaun Barnett, then 28 years old. Barnett and Kimbrough had been together at a daiquiri shop the night before the killings. Authorities determined that after an argument with Scott, Barnett left the couple's apartment only to return later with violent intentions. Using cell phone data and a license plate recognition system, detectives were able to track Barnett's movements in his gold Ford Taurus to and from the apartment complex.
A crucial piece of evidence tying Barnett to the murders was a military-style jacket found in a hamper at his home. Forensic testing revealed Kimbrough's blood on the jacket. Investigators also found some of Scott's belongings in Barnett's car and at another residence in New Orleans. Barnett was arrested in May 2016 and charged with two counts of first-degree murder. At the time of his arrest for the murders, he was already in jail on unrelated parole violations.
In January 2018, a jury found Shaun Barnett guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. During the trial, prosecutors detailed how Barnett entered the apartment through a back door around 6:30 a.m. and shot Scott in the head as she slept. When Kimbrough awoke, Barnett shot him in the face and body. He then shot Scott again before leaving. The following month, Barnett was sentenced to two mandatory life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole.
