On the evening of December 26, 2023, Juwarren Khalil Martin, a 23-year-old male, was fatally shot at a Sunny Times gas station in Lacombe, Louisiana. The tragic event unfolded after a physical altercation earlier in the day at a tobacco store in Abita Springs between Martin's sister and Megan Ayanna Coleman, the girlfriend of Marrio Haynes, Jr.
Less than two hours after the initial dispute, Coleman drove a black Hyundai Elantra to the gas station where Martin was located.
Haynes, who was a passenger in the vehicle, exited armed with an AR-15 style rifle. Witnesses reported that Haynes declared his intent to kill Martin before approaching him from behind and firing a single shot into his torso. Following the shooting, Haynes fled the scene on foot with the rifle before being picked up by Coleman in the same car a short distance away.
U.S. Marshals later apprehended Marrio Haynes Jr., a 27-year-old from Covington with a prior felony conviction, in Kentwood. On January 8, 2026, a St. Tammany Parish jury found Haynes guilty of second-degree murder, obstruction of justice by tampering with evidence, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
On February 2, 2026, Judge Vincent Lobello sentenced Haynes to life in prison for the murder, an additional 40 years for obstruction of justice, and 20 years for the firearm charge, with the sentences to be served consecutively. During the sentencing, the judge remarked on Haynes's complete lack of remorse, calling the ambush 'the most cowardly act' he had seen.
