Demetrius Thomas was 33 when he was shot to death on August 24, 2022, inside a building in the 2800 block of Comus Court in New Orleans. Officers responded to a midday call and found him with multiple gunshot wounds; paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. The Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office identified him five days later and listed gunshot-wound injuries as the cause of death.

Investigators soon developed information pointing to a single alleged perpetrator. On September 12, 2022, police announced the arrest of Elbert Bender and said they had obtained a warrant charging him with one count of second-degree murder; Bender was already in custody on unrelated charges and was rebooked so the homicide charge could be added. The initial announcements did not describe what happened inside the building before the shooting or the specific evidence tying Bender to Thomas’s death.

If anyone knew Demetrius, witnessed the shooting, or has information about the moments leading up to it, please share what you know.