Kip Christensen Lewis

Kip Christensen Lewis was a 17-year-old junior at Elysian Fields High School, known for his outgoing personality and love for the outdoors. A talented athlete who excelled at football, baseball, and basketball, Kip was described as a star who could have gone anywhere. The white male teenager, known to many as "Kipper," was an adored son and a doted-upon brother in a family deeply rooted in their East Texas community; his father served on the school board and his mother was a longtime elementary school teacher. His death sent shockwaves through the community, which closed all school campuses on the day of his funeral to allow students and staff to mourn.

The tragedy occurred during what should have been a joyous celebration. On the evening of February 18, 2023, Kip was in Shreveport, Louisiana, with friends to attend the Krewe of Gemini Mardi Gras parade. At around 5:45 p.m., near the 2200 block of Clyde Fant Memorial Parkway, a single gunshot rang out. First responders arrived to find Kip with a critical wound to his upper body. He was rushed to Ochsner LSU Health hospital, but medical efforts were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m.

The investigation revealed that the shooting happened among a group of four friends from East Texas. The group, including Kip and 16-year-old Jace Greenslate, were playing around when Greenslate produced a handgun. According to the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office, one of the friends realized the gun was loaded and unloaded it. However, Greenslate later reloaded the weapon, pointed it at Kip during the horseplay, and fired the fatal shot.

A few days after the shooting, Greenslate, of DeBerry, Texas, turned himself in to authorities. He was initially charged with manslaughter, but the charge was later reduced to negligent homicide as part of a plea deal. In February 2026, Greenslate, then 19, pleaded guilty to the charge.

In April 2026, a Caddo District Court judge sentenced Jace Greenslate to five years in the Caddo Parish jail. The judge suspended four of the five years, ordering Greenslate to serve one year behind bars. The sentence also included three years of supervised probation upon his release, which was approved for transfer to Texas. The court ordered that the handgun used in the shooting be forfeited and destroyed. After serving his sentence at the Caddo Correctional Center, Greenslate was released on October 11, 2026.