Richard Yeager

Richard Chrisler Yeager, known to friends and family as Chris, was a beloved 35-year-old son, brother, and friend with a passion for music. In his spare time, the Nashville native was known as "DJ Chris," hosting a popular weekly karaoke night at GrandPre's, a nightclub in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. Friends remembered his talent for singing and bringing joy to others. To support himself, Chris had recently taken on a second job, working as a delivery driver for Domino's Pizza for just six weeks before his life was tragically cut short.

In the early morning hours of Monday, September 22, 2014, Chris was completing a delivery in the Mid-City neighborhood. Shortly after midnight, police responded to a call and found him in the 2800 block of Saint Louis Street suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Investigators would later reveal he had been shot 10 times in what appeared to be an armed robbery and carjacking. Chris died at the scene. His vehicle was missing and was found abandoned hours later at the corner of Forshey and Pine streets.

The New Orleans Police Department, led by Superintendent Michael Harrison, announced a swift breakthrough in the case just one day after the shooting. They arrested two 16-year-old suspects, Rendell Brown and Shane Hughes. A critical piece of evidence came from electronic ankle monitors both teenagers were wearing due to previous juvenile arrests. GPS tracking data from Brown's monitor placed him at the location of the murder at the time it occurred. During a later hearing, an NOPD investigator testified that Hughes admitted he "saw the pizza man get shot" and suggested his own DNA might be found inside Yeager's stolen car. The case also brought public scrutiny to the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office’s electronic monitoring program, which the city's Inspector General had previously criticized.

The legal proceedings brought a partial resolution for Chris Yeager's grieving family. In March 2018, Rendell Brown, then 19, accepted a plea agreement. He pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter and two counts of armed robbery. In exchange, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison at hard labor without the possibility of parole or probation. During the hearing, Chris's parents, Ann and William Yeager, delivered powerful victim impact statements. "Because of a choice you made, you not only destroyed my child's life, but you destroyed your own as well," Ann Yeager told Brown. She spoke of the unimaginable pain of not being able to say goodbye to her son and the scars her family would bear forever. William Yeager told the court that his youngest son had "touched the lives of many" and that no parent should ever have to bury their child.

Shane Hughes, the second defendant, maintained his innocence and proceeded to trial on charges of second-degree murder and armed robbery. In a separate proceeding, a jury found Hughes not guilty of the murder of Chris Yeager. The jury also acquitted him of one armed robbery charge but could not reach a unanimous verdict on the armed robbery charge connected to Yeager's death, resulting in a mistrial on that specific count.

Chris Yeager was laid to rest in Nashville, Tennessee. His murder was the first of three killings of Domino's Pizza delivery drivers in New Orleans over the next few years, prompting concern for the safety of food delivery workers in the city. Following the investigation, the local Domino's franchisee offered a $7,500 reward for information leading to a conviction. As of March 2018, one of the two individuals arrested for Chris's death was serving a 40-year sentence for his role in the crime, while the other was acquitted of murder.