Kengie Coutee Jr., a young Black man known to friends as "Kj," was remembered as a funny person to be around. At 21 years old, he had attended Job Corps and was navigating his path in Alexandria, Louisiana. His life, however, was cut short in an act of violence that struck his family with a force of unimaginable grief, compounding a loss they were already struggling to endure. The Coutee family had buried Kengie’s younger brother, 19-year-old Karlin Coutee, just two months earlier after he, too, was lost to gun violence on February 12, 2022.
The second tragedy struck on what should have been a peaceful holiday. On Easter Sunday, April 17, 2022, Kengie was shot and killed in Alexandria. The shooting reportedly occurred in the area of Lower Third Street and Willow Glen Road, a neighborhood in the city. The specific circumstances that led to the gunfire, what Kengie was doing that day, and whether he was the intended target have never been publicly clarified by law enforcement.
The Alexandria Police Department responded to the incident, but details regarding the investigation, potential suspects, or a motive have not been released.
The loss of a second son in as many months left Kengie's family reeling. His mother, Lashanda C. Collins, faced a depth of sorrow that few can comprehend. In a GoFundMe campaign set up to help with funeral arrangements, a relative wrote, "We have not had time to get to a better place. This all happened so soon and unexpectedly." The plea for prayers and donations underscored the family's profound shock and pain as they prepared to bury another child.
In the years following the deaths of her sons, Lashanda Collins channeled her immense grief into a new purpose. Finding that traditional therapy did not fully address her needs, she discovered grief coaching and eventually became a certified grief coach herself. In March 2024, she published an eBook titled, “Finding the Resilience to Honor the Ones We Lost,” sharing her harrowing journey through despair and loneliness. In the book, she offers guidance and strategies for others grappling with devastating loss, creating a legacy of hope and healing from her own experience of unimaginable pain.
The investigation into Kengie Coutee’s homicide is handled by the Alexandria Police Department. Despite the passage of time, there have been no public announcements regarding any persons of interest, arrests, or charges in connection with his death. The case has grown cold, leaving his loved ones without answers or a sense of justice. For the Coutee family and the Alexandria community, the questions surrounding who killed Kengie and why remain unanswered.
As of early 2024, the case officially remains unsolved. The lack of resolution leaves a painful void for a family that has already endured more than its share of tragedy. The community is left to remember a young man whose life ended violently on a day of celebration, his death marking another grim statistic in a year of loss. There is no reward currently being offered for information in this case.
