Lafayette Antonio Reed, 27, a Black male, was found shot to death in the early morning hours of May 5, 2015, inside a home at 3229 North 28th Street in Omaha. Officers were dispatched at 4:37 a.m. and discovered Reed and his cousin, 27-year-old Diondre Mitchell, unresponsive in the kitchen; medics pronounced both men dead at the scene. Investigators said the pair had been at a small gathering when gunfire erupted, turning a familiar house into a crime scene that would weigh on family and
detectives for years.
For a long stretch, the case sat on the department s cold case rolls, with public pleas for information and periodic reminders of the double homicide s toll. Community coverage preserved the basic facts the address, the time before dawn, and the two cousins whose lives ended together while the Omaha Police Department maintained the case listing and renewed calls for tips as leads ebbed and flowed.
Years later, detectives announced a break. In late December 2022, police arrested 35-year-old Cavin Cooper in connection with the killings and booked him into Douglas County Corrections. Cooper was accused of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of use of a gun to commit a felony, and one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Local outlets and police updates noted that the arrest closed a painful gap in the timeline, moving the case from unsolved toward adjudication after nearly seven years. Subsequent coverage in March 2023 reiterated the arrest and charges as the case proceeded through the system.
Reed s death is remembered alongside his cousin s, a double loss that began as a frantic 4:37 a.m. call and unfolded into a long pursuit of accountability. The official cold case entry preserves the stark chronology of that morning, while the later arrest records the moment investigators finally named a suspect and set formal charges, offering Reed s family the first concrete step toward justice since that night in North Omaha.
