In the quiet of his New Orleans home, retired Police Officer Alva Ray Simmons, a 53-year-old male, drew his last breath on Saturday, July 10, 2004. His death, however, was not the result of a sudden illness or tragic accident, but the final, delayed consequence of a violent encounter that had occurred nearly two decades earlier. The story of his passing is inextricably linked to a fateful day in the Carrollton area, a day that would forever alter the course of his life and the lives of his
loved ones.
It was on March 18, 1985, that Officer Simmons, then an 11-year veteran of the New Orleans Police Department and a U.S. Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War, responded to a burglary in progress at a residence on Short Street. As he cautiously approached the house, taking a crouched position, a subject inside unleashed a hail of bullets from a. 357 caliber revolver. One of these rounds struck Simmons in the chin, a devastating injury that damaged his vocal cord and severed a vital artery.
In the immediate aftermath, there was a glimmer of hope. After a month of intensive medical care, Simmons was released from the hospital. But the reprieve was short-lived. Within a few weeks, he began to experience dizziness, a frightening prelude to the tragedy that would follow. He slipped into a coma, a state from which doctors were unable to awaken him. For the next 19 years, he remained in this unconscious state, lovingly cared for around the clock at his home by his devoted family.
The individual responsible for the shooting that ultimately led to Alva Ray Simmons' death was apprehended and faced justice. For the act of violence that set in motion a chain of events spanning nearly two decades, the offender was sentenced to 100 years in prison. Officer Simmons is survived by his wife and two sons, who bore witness to his long and silent struggle.
