Julie Catherine Couvillon, a 36-year-old nurse and mother from Metairie, was killed by a stray bullet on Bourbon Street in New Orleans during the early morning hours of Sunday, February 24, 2019. She had been out after attending Carnival parades and was struck near Willie’s Chicken Shack at about 3:10 a.m. while a security guard was trying to remove 37-year-old Louis Barnes from the restaurant.

According to accounts of the incident, a struggle ensued and Barnes allegedly took possession of the guard’s firearm and fired multiple times. The guard was wounded in the neck, Barnes suffered a shoulder wound, and Couvillon was hit as an innocent bystander; she was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead. Police who were nearby heard the shots and apprehended Barnes at the scene.

Barnes was initially charged with second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. The Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office later announced manslaughter charges in Couvillon’s death, along with attempted second-degree murder for the guard’s injury and a felon-in-possession count; prosecutors said the counts carry significant prison terms and that prior felony convictions could enhance a sentence.

If anyone was on Bourbon Street that night and witnessed what happened near Willie’s Chicken Shack, please come forward with what you saw.