Wayde Sims, a 20-year-old forward for the Louisiana State University basketball team, was shot and killed in the early morning hours of September 28, 2018, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The shooting happened around 12:25 a.m. near the Southern University campus, across from a Subway where homecoming festivities were underway. Sims had stepped in to defend a friend during a physical altercation and was shot; he was taken to a hospital and died of gunshot wounds to the head and neck.

Baton Rouge police circulated cellphone video of the fight and shooting and used evidence recovered at the scene — including a pair of glasses with DNA that matched 20-year-old Dyteon Simpson — to identify and arrest him the next day. Simpson admitted being at the scene, possessing a weapon, and shooting Sims and was charged with second-degree murder. After pretrial delays and a change of judges, Simpson’s trial began in April 2022. Prosecutors introduced video of the incident and testimony that the initial fight may have started over a woman; Simpson did not testify and was convicted of second-degree murder.

In July 2022 Simpson received the mandatory sentence of life without parole. The case record notes his death in custody days after sentencing; a preliminary toxicology report indicated fentanyl in his system. If anyone has information about Wayde Sims, his movements that night, or the people involved, please come forward.