On the evening of Thursday, January 18, 2024, deputies from the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of gunfire on Captain G. Bourgeois Street in LaPlace. Inside a vehicle they found 36-year-old Kenneth Ray Payne, a Black male from Baker, Louisiana, with multiple gunshot wounds. Payne was unresponsive and later pronounced dead at the scene by the coroner’s office.

No one else was reported injured. Detectives say a motive had not been established and investigators had not named any suspects or made arrests at the time of the latest update. The Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information to come forward as the homicide investigation continues.

If anyone in LaPlace or Baker knew Kenneth Ray Payne or saw activity on Captain G. Bourgeois Street that night, can you share what you remember with investigators?