Lynette Williams Glass, a 42-year-old Black female, and her husband, Herbert Glass, 58, were newlyweds of about a month when their lives were tragically cut short in July 2010. The couple was last seen alive on July 7, 2010. On July 9, their bodies were discovered by a construction crew in Lake Pontchartrain. They had been shot in the head execution-style and bound with duct tape before being disposed of in the water.
The day before the grim discovery, their Toyota Camry was found torched at an interstate exit.
The investigation into the murders of Lynette and Herbert Glass was intertwined with another double homicide that had occurred just three weeks earlier. On June 17, 2010, Hermania Ellsworth and her former boyfriend, Charles Davis, were fatally shot in a vehicle that then crashed into a tree in front of the home where Lynette and Herbert lived. It was rumored that Lynette may have been the first person on the scene of that shooting and had contacted the victims' relatives, possibly making her a witness. This connection led investigators to believe the two double murders were related.
For years, the case remained cold, leaving the families of Lynette and Herbert without answers. Suspects had been identified in 2010, but no arrests were made at the time. A breakthrough came in March 2021 when the Netflix series "Unsolved Mysteries" made an inquiry about the earlier murders of Ellsworth and Davis. This prompted Kenner police to reopen the investigation. The renewed efforts, which included reviewing reports, lab results, and witness statements, led to a significant development.
In April 2021, authorities arrested 35-year-old Dernell Nelson in connection with the murders of Ellsworth and Davis, citing DNA and circumstantial evidence. Nelson was also named a possible suspect in the killings of Lynette and Herbert Glass. Subsequently, two other suspects, Lee Williams and Zetonio Lightfoot, were also arrested. All three were charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of both couples. After years of uncertainty, the arrests offered a glimmer of hope for justice for the families of Lynette Williams Glass and the other victims.
