In the early hours of Sunday, April 3, 2005, the life of 26-year-old Kevin Darnell 'Kel-boo' 'Ace' Henderson, a male painter from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was tragically cut short. Henderson was in a vehicle with two other men, 25-year-old Ivy 'Don' Smith and 23-year-old Joshua Earl Thomas, when they were ambushed. Another vehicle reportedly pulled up alongside theirs, and a barrage of gunfire erupted, tearing through the night and the occupants of the car.
The attack occurred on Sherwood Forest Boulevard, where a police officer on patrol discovered their vehicle crashed into a pillar of a bank.
Responding to what initially appeared to be a traffic accident, the officer found a grim scene. Inside the car, Henderson and Smith were found with fatal gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead at the scene. Thomas, still alive but critically injured, was rushed to a nearby hospital. Despite medical efforts, he succumbed to his injuries two days later. Investigators believe the triple homicide was connected to an altercation that had taken place earlier in the evening at Club Shenanigan's, a local nightclub.
In a potential break in the case, a gun that was forensically matched to the triple murder was discovered two weeks later in connection with a separate killing. However, this lead turned into a dead end for the investigation into the deaths of Henderson, Smith, and Thomas. The two suspects in the subsequent murder were already incarcerated at the time of the triple homicide. This led investigators to conclude that the murder weapon had been passed on, but it did not bring them any closer to identifying the individual or individuals who pulled the trigger on that fatal April night.
Years have passed since the violent deaths of Kevin Henderson, Ivy Smith, and Joshua Thomas. Despite the passage of time and the discovery of a key piece of evidence, the case has grown cold. No arrests have ever been made, and no suspects have been publicly identified in connection with the triple murder. The shooting remains an unsolved crime, leaving the families of the three young men without answers or justice for their profound loss. The community of Baton Rouge is left with the memory of a brutal act of violence that claimed three lives and the lingering questions of a case that, for now, remains unresolved.
