Police: Drugs motive behind deadly shooting in Jennings, second victim remains hospitalized
JENNINGS, La. (KLFY)- Police claim 41-year-old Steven Edwards is responsible for shooting two men, killing one of them.
Jennings Police say 42-year-old Dwight Breaux and another man were shot when they drove up to Edwards’ house in the 1200 block of West Street around nine Wednesday night. Breaux died at a hospital.
The unidentified victim is still in a trauma center.
Police Chief Danny Semmes says one of the victims admitted the shooting stemmed from a drug deal, “One of the victims at the hospital indicated to officers that this was in relation to a drug transaction that was taking place and they’d gone by to purchase drugs from Steven Edwards.”
But Semmes says investigators also believe there’s more to the shooting, “We feel it may have something to do with a confrontation where our victim, Dwight Breaux, had been shot about three weeks ago here in Jennings in the leg.”
Semmes says at the time of that shooting, Breaux had been uncooperative with police, saying he didn’t know who shot him.
The Chief tells News 10, Wednesday’s deadly shooting shows how drugs affect crime in the area, “The majority of the violent crime that we see in Jennings and the surrounding areas is directly correlated to the drug problem that we have.”
News 10 spoke to friends of the victims, who admitted that Breaux and the other victim were known to be involved with drugs. Semmes says because of that, it didn’t shock him that Wednesday’s shooting stemmed from a drug deal. “With all of the subjects involved, it was not surprising that this was drug-related,” he said.
In July of last year, Edwards, the suspect in Wednesday’s shooting, was involved in another shooting at that same residence. However, at that time, he was the victim. Edwards lost his leg in that shooting.
Semmes says investigators believed, during that shooting last year, that it was also drug-related.
The Chief tells News 10 there was a three-year-old girl in the car with the two men during the drug deal and shooting Wednesday night.
He says she was almost hit by a bullet that went through a backseat window of the vehicle and adds it’s possible they’ll be looking to also charge whoever was responsible for putting the toddler in that dangerous situation.