In the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans, a tragedy unfolded on the evening of January 6, 2024, forever altering the lives of those who knew and loved Cayla Kelley. The 27-year-old woman was found in the street, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds. The incident, which occurred in the 2700 block of Washington Avenue, would soon be ruled a homicide.
The New Orleans Police Department immediately launched an investigation into Kelley's death.
Their efforts were featured on the A&E series 'Homicide Squad New Orleans,' which documented the work of detectives as they pieced together the events of that fatal night. Early in the investigation, a couple who claimed to know Kelley approached the police at the crime scene, but detectives quickly sensed inconsistencies in their story and detained them for further questioning.
Surveillance footage became a critical piece of evidence, placing a man named Earl Simmons at the scene with Cayla Kelley. This led investigators to identify the 31-year-old as the primary suspect in her murder. A warrant was issued for his arrest. The investigation took a startling turn when ballistics testing revealed that the same weapon used to kill Kelley was also used in the fatal shooting of another individual, Eddie Matthews, just hours later on the same evening. This discovery linked Simmons to two homicides in a single night.
On January 18, 2024, members of the NOPD's Violent Offender Warrant Squad and the U.S. Marshals located and arrested Earl Simmons. He was subsequently booked into the Orleans Parish Justice Center on two counts of second-degree murder.
