Dezmon Jerome Dez Hamilton was 34 when he was fatally shot in his Zachary, Louisiana home on Sunday, July 18, 2021. The shooting happened around 8:00 a.m. on Hayfield Drive after Hamilton confronted a teenager who had entered his house without permission and was found hiding in his 14-year-old daughter’s closet.

A neighbor had seen a young man using a ladder to climb into a second-story window and alerted Hamilton. During the confrontation downstairs an exchange of gunfire occurred; Hamilton was shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene. The teenager was also wounded and taken to hospital.

The teenager was identified as 17-year-old Nicholas Mcquirter and law enforcement announced plans to charge him with second-degree murder, illegal use of a weapon, and illegal possession of a stolen firearm once he was released from the hospital. Does anyone have information about the events that morning or knew Dez Hamilton and his family?