In the late afternoon of November 24, 2023, the life of 39-year-old Nancy Herrick of St. Martinville, a female, was tragically cut short in Lafayette, Louisiana. Responding to a call, officers arrived at the 2800 block of NE Evangeline Thruway to find Herrick suffering from fatal gunshot wounds. The initial incident unfolded at the Plantation Inn, where she was discovered, leaving a community in shock and investigators with the urgent task of finding the person responsible for her death.
The Lafayette Police Department, in collaboration with the US Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force, quickly launched an investigation that led them to identify 34-year-old Clifton Washington of Lafayette as the primary suspect in the homicide. The determined efforts of law enforcement tracked Washington to The Super 7 motel located on NW Evangeline Thruway. Early in the morning, authorities moved in to apprehend the suspect, but the situation quickly escalated.
Upon the arrival of law enforcement, Washington barricaded himself inside a motel room, initiating a tense standoff. The Lafayette Police Department's SWAT team was deployed to the scene in an attempt to negotiate a peaceful surrender. Despite their efforts to communicate with him, the situation took a grim turn. Washington ultimately ended his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, bringing a tragic and abrupt end to the manhunt. Investigators remained at the scene to piece together the sequence of events that led to both the initial homicide and the subsequent suicide of the key suspect.
