On the late afternoon of January 20, 2025, 22-year-old D’Shawn Marcelle Brown was shot and killed in the McDonald’s parking lot at Airline Highway and Prescott Road in Baton Rouge. Police found Brown deceased from multiple gunshot wounds near his vehicle after responding around 3:53 p.m. He had been with his grandmother, State Representative C. Denise Marcelle, an advocate against gun violence, an hour earlier; she had persuaded him to stay with her because of an approaching snowstorm, and he stopped at the McDonald’s on the way back.

Baton Rouge homicide detectives say investigators identified a maroon SUV and arrested 33-year-old Melvin Robinson Jr. on January 31. Arrest documents and a witness statement allege Robinson drove the SUV, approached Brown’s car and fired multiple shots; authorities also say Robinson burned the vehicle the next day and later admitted to doing so. Two more suspects, 19-year-old Brandon Grayham Jr. and 19-year-old Johnathan Williams, were arrested in early February. All three were charged with second-degree murder and illegal use of a weapon; Robinson faced additional felony gun and obstruction counts.

Does anyone have information about Brown’s last movements at the McDonald’s or who else might have witnessed the shooting?