In the early hours of a summer morning in New Orleans, a burst of gunfire shattered the quiet, leaving a young man dead and two others wounded. The deceased was identified as Michael J.D. Spikes, a 25-year-old African-American man. The incident, which occurred on June 29, 2015, unfolded in an eastern neighborhood of the city, where Spikes and two companions were sitting in a parked vehicle.
Without warning, the stillness of the morning was broken as an unknown assailant or assailants
opened fire on the parked car. The barrage of bullets tore through the vehicle, striking all three occupants. When the shooting ceased, Michael Spikes had sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. The two other individuals in the car were also struck by the gunfire and were subsequently transported to a local hospital for treatment of their injuries.
In the aftermath of the shooting, the New Orleans Police Department launched an investigation into the triple shooting. However, information regarding a motive for the attack or the identification of any suspects was not made public in the immediate wake of the incident. The investigation into the death of Michael Spikes and the wounding of his two companions was ongoing.
Details regarding any arrests, the naming of suspects, or the subsequent legal proceedings in this case have not been made available through online sources. The case, like many others, left a family to mourn the loss of a young man whose life was cut short by a sudden act of violence. Michael was the son of Christina Hickman and Jimmy Brady, and a father to three children. His life was remembered at a funeral service held at the Deliverance Missionary Baptist Church, and he was laid to rest at Resthaven Memorial Park in New Orleans.
