In the summer of 2023, a New Orleans woman named Johnshane 'Nay' Powell, aged 33, lost her life in a fatal shooting that tragically followed her pleas for help. On the evening of July 3rd, at the intersection of New Orleans and North Rocheblave Streets, Powell was shot multiple times. Emergency services transported her to a local hospital, but she succumbed to her injuries.
A mother of two young daughters, ages four and eight, her death left a void in the lives of her family and friends who remembered her as a joyful and happy person.
Just days before her death, Powell had reached out to law enforcement, reporting a domestic abuse incident. She alleged that she had been physically assaulted and had her belongings, including a firearm, stolen. An arrest was made in connection with this report, but the individual was released on the same day Powell was killed. This sequence of events painted a grim picture of a woman failed by the systems she had turned to for protection.
The investigation into Powell's murder led authorities to Kelvin Atkins, a 35-year-old man. Atkins was already in custody for a parole violation when the New Orleans Police Department identified him as the primary suspect in Powell's death. He was subsequently rebooked on a charge of second-degree murder. Friends and family of Powell, including a childhood friend who worked as an emergency dispatcher and had sent police to the scene of the shooting, were left heartbroken and searching for answers.
In the months that followed, the legal process began to unfold. In January 2024, a grand jury indicted Kelvin Atkins on multiple charges, including the second-degree murder of Johnshane Powell, domestic abuse battery, and violation of a protective order. Atkins pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him, and the case is proceeding through the court system. The community continues to mourn the loss of a young mother while awaiting the conclusion of the judicial proceedings.
