On the morning of May 24, 2015, 45-year-old James Bennett Jr., a 15-year veteran who served with the Housing Authority of New Orleans Police Department, was found fatally shot in his patrol car near Erato and Freret Streets. Bennett had been working an overtime shift, patrolling a construction site at the Guste Homes Public Housing Complex in Central City, when his vehicle was discovered crashed shortly after 7:00 a.m. Investigators concluded he was ambushed and killed by an unknown assailant.

Detectives initially struggled to develop substantial leads and the case went cold, becoming one of the city’s most prominent unsolved murders. In May 2016 the investigation produced a significant development when Bennett’s service weapon was recovered less than a mile from the killing. The gun was found in the possession of 18-year-old Charles Garner, arrested on an unrelated traffic stop and booked for illegal possession of a stolen firearm. Garner was interviewed by homicide detectives but was not immediately named as a suspect.

Anyone with information about that morning, the stolen weapon, or movements near Guste Homes is asked to come forward.