Shortly after 12:30 a.m. on February 21, 2017, Tangipahoa Parish sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of gunfire at an apartment complex on Woodlands Drive in Hammond, Louisiana. Neighbors had called after hearing several shots; deputies found 22-year-old Maurice Lloyd deceased at the scene. Earlier that evening, on February 20, 2017, Lloyd and his cousin Devonte West were involved in a drug transaction outside West’s residence that turned violent and resulted in an ambush. West survived; Lloyd was fatally wounded.

A search of West’s home after the shooting uncovered about two ounces of heroin and multiple firearms, and West was later indicted on federal drug and gun charges and pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. In February 2020, Kareem Graham, then 23 and from Tickfaw, pleaded no contest to manslaughter in Lloyd’s death and was sentenced to 25 years with the Department of Corrections, to be served without probation, parole, or suspension.

Anyone with information about Maurice Lloyd, the events on Woodlands Drive, or the earlier transaction on February 20 is asked to come forward.