In the summer of 2023, the life of 22-year-old Codie Tremaine Laday, a Black male from Lafayette, Louisiana, was tragically cut short. On the evening of June 19th, Lafayette Police were called to the scene of a shooting in the 100 block of South Orleans Drive. There they discovered two victims, one of whom was Laday. He was rushed to a local hospital but ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
The second victim, 21-year-old Denzel Smith, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation into the double homicide quickly led authorities to two suspects. Zaylin Sion, 21, of Carencro, and Alayna Moreau, 18, of Church Point, were located and apprehended by the West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office at a motel in Port Allen. They were taken into custody without incident and booked into the West Baton Rouge Detention Center as fugitives from Lafayette.
Following their arrests, Sion was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of illegal discharge of a firearm. Moreau faced charges of two counts of accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. The Lafayette Police Department continued their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deadly shooting.
As of July 2025, court proceedings in the case were still pending. Reports from that time indicated that Zaylin Sion was among a number of individuals awaiting trial for their alleged involvement in homicides that occurred in Lafayette in 2023. Further details regarding a potential motive for the shooting or the specific trial dates for Sion and Moreau have not been publicly released.
