Haleei A. Newton was 18 and had graduated from Ruston High School just 75 hours before she was killed. In the early morning hours of Saturday, May 25, 2024, Newton was driving eastbound on Interstate 20 in Ruston with a male friend after attending an event in Arcadia when another vehicle pulled alongside her 2009 Kia and fired multiple shots. A patrol officer nearby heard the gunfire. One bullet entered the trunk of Newton’s car and struck her in the back. Her passenger, unharmed, steered the vehicle to the shoulder; Newton was found unresponsive and later died at Northern Louisiana Medical Center.

Ruston police said it did not appear Newton was a random victim and that no immediate altercation precipitated the shooting, though investigators later connected the attack to an argument at the Arcadia party. On September 26, 2024, three people were arrested: 19-year-old Earnest G. Chatman of Simsboro, 19-year-old Jamion T. James of Grambling, and 18-year-old Emmanuel M. Seals, Jr. of Ruston. All three were booked on charges including second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, and obstruction of justice; bail was set at $1.9 million each, and the suspects pleaded not guilty.

No motive has been publicly established beyond investigators’ belief that the shooting grew out of the earlier dispute and that Newton was not the intended target. If anyone was at the Arcadia event or saw the vehicles on I-20 that night, please come forward with information.