In the summer of 1987, a horrifying act of violence cut short the life of 8-year-old Eric Williams, an African-American boy, in Shreveport, Louisiana. On August 5th, a brutal home invasion unfolded at his grandmother's residence, forever scarring the community. The young boy was not the only victim that day; he was tragically murdered alongside his mother, Martha Leach, his aunt, Geraldine James, and his grandmother, Billy Joe Harris.
The perpetrator of this heinous crime was identified
as Nathaniel Robert Code, a convicted serial killer whose reign of terror left a trail of eight victims between 1984 and 1987. Code, a former prison inmate with a prior burglary conviction, broke into the Harris home and subjected the family to unimaginable violence. The four victims were found bound, gagged, and having suffered multiple stab wounds, a method that was consistent with Code's other brutal killings.
The shocking discovery of the four deceased family members sent waves of fear and grief through Shreveport. The senseless murder of a young boy in his own family's home was a particularly painful blow. The investigation into the gruesome scene would eventually link the crime to Nathaniel Code's murder spree, bringing a name to the architect of so much pain and loss. Code's subsequent capture and conviction brought a measure of justice for Eric Williams and the other innocent lives he so violently extinguished.
