Major Wendell Carter III, 30, was killed on October 27, 2014, after going to the Village Apartments in Port Allen with a companion to buy marijuana. The companion, Ashton E. Taylor, had asked Carter to help with the purchase; both men met the seller and moved into a stairwell where, according to the court record, an encounter abruptly turned violent. The man they met demanded they give it up and opened fire. Carter was shot in the back; the wound perforated his lungs and proved fatal. Taylor was wounded but survived and later identified Javonte T.

Morgan in a photographic lineup as the shooter. Police traced phone activity and located Morgan at his mother’s residence. Morgan acknowledged being at the scene in a recorded interview but denied shooting; he later suggested Ronald A. Nolan as a possible shooter. The case proceeded to trial; a jury convicted Morgan of second degree murder, attempted second degree murder, armed robbery, and attempted armed robbery. The trial court imposed life imprisonment at hard labor on the murder count plus lengthy additional terms, and the court of appeal affirmed those convictions and sentences.

Does anyone have information about Carter’s last hours at the Village Apartments or knew him and can shed light on what happened that night?