Samantha Griffin, 46, was killed in her LaPlace, Louisiana apartment on September 16, 2016. Deputies from the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office responded about 9 p.m. to the 300 block of East Airline Highway and found Griffin, a single-leg amputee described by neighbors as wonderfully caring, with a severe gunshot wound to her arm; she was pronounced dead at the scene from extreme blood loss.

Investigators focused on a neighbor, 28-year-old Royce Burse, after eyewitnesses reported seeing him approach Griffin’s apartment carrying a Norinco SKS assault rifle just before the shot. Detectives said robbery was believed to be the motive because Griffin collected rent checks for the complex and Burse had been seen asking for food and money. Burse was initially arrested a day later on unrelated drug and parole violations; officers later recovered the weapon and ammunition they say were used in the homicide and booked him on second-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Did anyone in LaPlace know Samantha or see activity near East Airline Highway that night?