Javonte Montrell Barber was 22 and a Southern University finance student when he was found in his vehicle in the Cadence apartments parking lot on Scenic Highway in Baton Rouge on March 12, 2022, suffering multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to a hospital and died of those injuries. Investigators say the shooting happened during a botched carjacking attempt. Two male juveniles, aged 16 and 17, were arrested and booked into the Juvenile Detention Center on a charge of first-degree murder.

The 16-year-old was identified as De’Arius Ellis, who had turned 16 nine days before the shooting; arrest documents say Ellis and the 17-year-old had tried to carjack another vehicle earlier that night. Barber was weeks away from graduating; his degree in finance was awarded posthumously in May 2022. The district attorney filed a motion in October 2022 to try De’Arius Ellis as an adult for first-degree murder.

Does anyone have information about Barber’s movements that night or witnesses who saw the attempted carjackings?