In the early morning hours of May 24, 2015, James Arthur Bennett Jr., a 45-year-old male officer with the Housing Authority of New Orleans Police Department, was found shot to death in his patrol car. The vehicle had crashed near the intersection of Erato and Freret Streets in New Orleans. Bennett was working an overtime detail, patrolling a construction site at the Guste Homes public housing complex when he was ambushed and killed.
He had been with the HANO Police Department for two years and had previously served with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office for 13 years.
The investigation into the murder of Officer Bennett was met with immediate challenges due to the isolated location of the crime scene within a construction site, which offered few witnesses and a lack of security cameras. For nearly a year, the case saw few public developments, and the trail for investigators seemed to grow cold. In an effort to generate new leads, Crimestoppers increased the reward for information to $35,000.
A significant break in the case came in May 2016, almost a year after the murder, when Officer Bennett's stolen service weapon was recovered. The gun was found in the possession of an 18-year-old man named Charles Garner during a traffic stop. Garner, who was out on bond for a previous attempted murder charge, attempted to flee from officers before being apprehended. While the discovery of the weapon was a major lead for investigators, Garner was not charged in connection with Officer Bennett's murder. He was booked with illegal possession of a stolen firearm. Law enforcement officials hoped the recovery of the gun would provide a path to identifying a suspect in the officer's death, but there have been no subsequent public announcements regarding any arrests or suspects in the murder of James Arthur Bennett Jr. The case is believed to remain unsolved.
