On February 9, 2023, at about 12:39 AM deputies responded to reports of shots fired at the Church Heights Apartments in the 1200 block of Bayou Road in Cheneyville, Louisiana, and found 20-year-old Mathew Leary with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Investigators say an altercation occurred between Leary and several people in a vehicle; those occupants left before law enforcement arrived.

Rapides Parish detectives identified three primary suspects and had warrants for Quantavius Jamar Richards, 27, Aaron Demond Jones, 25, and Diamante Swaizer, 23. Richards and Jones were taken into custody locally and Swaizer was arrested in Porter, Texas, by the U.S. Marshals Service Violent Offenders Task Force. Several additional people were later charged with obstruction of justice, criminal conspiracy, accessory after the fact, or resisting arrest, including Liontraill Carneisha Williams, Charlette Williams, Jolette Williams, Alyssa L. Jefferson, and Mardarius Tyrell Taylor.

Authorities describe the investigation as active and say more arrests could follow. If anyone in Cheneyville or the Alexandria area has information about that night, please share what is known with Rapides Parish law enforcement.