Samuel Miley, a 15-year-old male from Lafayette, Louisiana, was killed in a shooting on the afternoon of July 31, 2026, in the 200 block of Sherwood Drive. Lafayette police were called to the area at approximately 4:21 p.m. after receiving a report of a shooting in progress. When officers arrived, they found Miley suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Lafayette Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division took over the case, processing the shooting scene, collecting evidence and interviewing potential witnesses as detectives tried to determine what led to the gunfire and who was responsible. Police did not publicly disclose a motive or a detailed account of the events immediately preceding the shooting.
The investigation initially appeared to produce a suspect on August 3, when Lafayette police arrested an unnamed juvenile in connection with Miley’s death. The juvenile was taken to the Lafayette Parish Juvenile Detention Center and initially booked on a count of second-degree murder. That arrest, however, quickly changed course. Within hours, detectives announced that further investigation had established that the juvenile was not criminally involved in the shooting. Police recalled the arrest warrant and released the juvenile from custody, leaving investigators once again working to identify the person responsible for Miley’s killing.
The following day, the investigation resulted in a different arrest. Lafayette police identified Nicholas Williams of Lafayette as a suspect in Miley’s death and booked him into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center on one count of second-degree murder. Authorities connected Williams to the July 31 shooting on Sherwood Drive but, in the publicly available reports, did not explain what evidence led detectives to him, describe an alleged confrontation between Williams and Miley, identify a weapon, or provide a motive for the shooting. The arrest represented a significant shift in the case after investigators cleared and released the juvenile who had initially been accused.
As of the latest publicly available reporting reviewed, Williams remained the person arrested and charged in connection with Miley’s death, while police continued to describe the homicide investigation as active. No publicly reported trial, conviction or sentencing had occurred, and the available sources did not report that Williams had entered a plea or that prosecutors had secured an indictment beyond the reported second-degree murder charge. Authorities continued asking anyone with information about what happened on Sherwood Drive to contact Lafayette police or Lafayette Crime Stoppers as detectives worked to develop the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting.
