A family dispute in the Merrydale apartment complex on Grayson Avenue turned deadly on the night of September 27, 2024. A long-running feud between 19-year-old Dominik Franklin and the Vallery family escalated when Franklin and a 19-year-old companion, Tyrone Eackles, went to the home of Shelita Vallery’s mother. A fight broke out and gunfire followed.

Three people died: 40-year-old Shelita Vallery, 62-year-old David Celestine, and 63-year-old Paul Lewis, a male relative of the Vallery family. Lewis was critically injured at the scene, taken to a hospital, and later died of his wounds. Family members said Vallery died protecting her nephew. Franklin and Eackles were also wounded; one victim reportedly returned fire. After treatment, both were to be booked into the parish prison. Franklin was charged with three counts of first-degree murder; Eackles faces three counts of principal to first-degree murder and illegal use of a firearm.

Does anyone have information about the feud or what led to the confrontation on Grayson Avenue?