Curley James Woods

In the pre-dawn darkness of a Thursday in Baton Rouge, the humid summer air of July 12, 2018, was shattered by the violence that ended a life. Curley James Woods, a 57-year-old Black / African American man, was walking along the 2400 block of Jackson Avenue when a car, a 2000s-model Ford Taurus station wagon, approached the intersection of Plank Road. In a sequence of events captured by a video camera in the area, Woods turned and walked toward the vehicle. Something transpired in that moment, and Woods quickly turned back, attempting to run away. He collapsed in the roadway before he could escape. When Baton Rouge Police officers arrived around 3:50 a.m., they found Curley Woods on the pavement, suffering from gunshot injuries. He died there at the scene.

The neighborhood, a part of the city that has seen its share of violence, was soon the center of an intense homicide investigation. The city of Baton Rouge would record 105 homicides that year, and the Violent Crimes Unit was tasked with unraveling the moments that led to Woods's death. Detectives began their work, and the video footage provided an immediate and crucial lead. The grainy images of the Ford Taurus station wagon became the focus of the initial search. The day after the shooting, police located the suspect vehicle and conducted a traffic stop. The registered owner, a woman, was driving. When investigators explained why they had stopped her, she informed them that the only other person who used the car was a man named William Patrick Womack.

With this information, the investigation quickly gained momentum. Investigators secured a search warrant for Womack's residence on Bay Street. As officers moved in to execute the warrant, Womack, then 28 years old, attempted to flee out the back of the house but was quickly detained. During questioning, he pointed the finger at another man, 27-year-old Corey Chaney, whom he claimed was in the car with him and was the one who had shot Woods. However, police noted that other details Womack provided were inconsistent with the video evidence they possessed. Based on their investigation, authorities believed Womack had direct involvement in the murder. He was arrested and booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on charges of second-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Following Womack's arrest and his statement to the police, the Baton Rouge Police Department publicly identified Corey Chaney as the second suspect in the shooting death of Curley Woods. A warrant was issued for his arrest on a charge of second-degree murder. That evening, BRPD's Special Response Team searched a home on Jackson Avenue in connection with the ongoing homicide investigation. The search for Chaney did not last long. Just three days after the shooting, on Sunday, July 15, 2018, Corey Chaney turned himself in to the authorities. He was arrested and booked into the parish prison, facing a charge of second-degree murder for his alleged role in the death of Curley Woods.

In the years since the swift arrests of the two suspects, the public record has grown quiet about the progression of the case. The initial flurry of police activity and news reports detailed the beginning of the legal process, but information regarding the final disposition of the charges against William Patrick Womack and Corey Chaney is not readily available. There is no public record of a trial, conviction, or sentencing for either of the accused in relation to the death of Curley Woods. The motive for the shooting, a key question in the immediate aftermath, also remains publicly unstated by authorities.

The narrative of Curley James Woods's life remains largely untold in public sources. No obituaries or public remembrances appear to exist online that would offer a glimpse into the man he was, the family he may have left behind, or the life he lived for 57 years before it was cut short on a dark street in Baton Rouge. The case, which began with a clear video and two rapid arrests, has since faded from public view. Without further information on the judicial outcome, the full story of what happened on that July morning, and whether justice was served for the killing of Curley Woods, remains incomplete.