Jonathan Roberson

In the predawn hours of a Sunday in west Shreveport, Louisiana, the quiet of April 8, 2018, was shattered by the sound of gunfire. On Brandtway Street, a residential road in a city that had seen a decrease in most categories of crime that year, a young life was violently cut short. Jonathan Roberson, a 26-year-old Black / African American man known to his friends and family, was found suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body. The call to the Shreveport Police came in just before 3:00 a.m., a time when the city is usually still.

Emergency services rushed Jonathan to University Health Hospital, but his injuries were too severe. He was pronounced dead, leaving behind a daughter and a community of friends who remembered him as a talented rapper and DJ, a great father, and a loyal friend who was respectful to everyone. Those who knew him would later recall his love for his daughter and his music, with one friend mentioning they still listen to his tracks daily to hear his voice. He had worked at Sonic and attended Ridgewood Middle School, a life with a past and a future that was stolen in a moment of violence.

The Shreveport Police Department's Violent Crimes Unit immediately began an investigation. Detectives and Crime Scene Unit members descended on the 7100 block of Brandtway Street, combing for evidence and speaking with potential witnesses. Their work throughout the day and into the following days was methodical and persistent. From the information they gathered at the scene and through interviews, a picture of the alleged perpetrator began to form.

Three days after Jonathan Roberson’s death, the Shreveport Police Department announced a major development in the case. They had identified a suspect: 23-year-old Kenmorria Kendrick. A warrant was issued for Kendrick's arrest on one count of second-degree murder, with his bond set at a substantial $500,000. Police released Kendrick's name and photograph to the public, asking for any information on his whereabouts and offering a cash reward for tips leading to his arrest. The department urged anyone with knowledge of the case to come forward.

For years, the case of Jonathan Roberson’s death remained in a state of legal limbo. While a suspect had been named and a warrant issued, the next steps in the judicial process remained elusive. It is unclear from public records whether Kenmorria Kendrick was ever apprehended and brought to trial for the murder of Jonathan Roberson. The questions surrounding that April morning on Brandtway Street lingered, and for Jonathan’s family and friends, the wait for justice was a long and arduous one.

The narrative of Jonathan Roberson's case took a final, grim turn on a Sunday morning more than five years after his death. On November 12, 2023, the man accused of ending his life, Kenmorria Kendrick, was himself shot and killed. Kendrick, then 28, was found with multiple gunshot wounds in the parking lot of an apartment complex in southeast Shreveport and died at a local hospital. His death brought a sudden and violent end to the possibility of a trial and a legal resolution for the killing of Jonathan Roberson. While the criminal case against Kendrick is now closed, the full story of what transpired on that spring night in 2018, and the motivations behind it, may never be fully known.