In the early morning hours of October 5, 2015, the life of 18-year-old Sierra Gregoire was tragically cut short in a hail of gunfire on State Street in LaPlace, Louisiana. A vibrant young woman who enjoyed dancing and spending time with her family and friends, Sierra had dreams of becoming an accountant. That night, she was with her 23-year-old cousin, Travis Gregoire, and another friend, Damarius Carter, when a vehicle, believed to be a white four-door pickup truck, pulled up and someone
inside opened fire.
Travis Gregoire died at a local hospital that morning. Sierra, gravely wounded, was rushed to University Medical Center in New Orleans, where she succumbed to her injuries later that evening. Carter, the third victim, survived the shooting. The violent and seemingly random nature of the attack left the community in shock and searching for answers. Investigators soon discovered a burned-out white pickup truck in the nearby town of Reserve that they believed was connected to the shooting.
For over two and a half years, the investigation into the murders of Sierra and Travis Gregoire continued, with detectives persistently working the case. A breakthrough came in May 2018 when authorities arrested 26-year-old Djuan Mackey of Gretna. The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force apprehended him in Slidell without incident. The St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff's Office announced that physical evidence tied Mackey to the double homicide. Law enforcement officials believe the shooting was a case of mistaken identity and that the Gregoires were not the intended targets.
Following his arrest, Djuan Mackey was booked on two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted second-degree murder. In July 2018, a St. John the Baptist Parish Grand Jury indicted Mackey on these charges. Court records from 2021 and 2022 indicate that the legal proceedings against him were ongoing. The case, which had deeply affected the LaPlace community, was moving through the justice system, though the final outcome of the trial is not available in the public records searched.
