New Orleans: Couple Shot Dead While They Slept Next To Their Newborn Baby Girl

In a shocking incident, a young couple from Kenner, New Orleans, were shot dead by an unknown person as they lay asleep next to their newborn baby. According to the New Orleans Advocate, the dead couple were identified as 28-year-old Dawn Scott and 31-year-old Raynell Kimbrough. The couple were living in an apartment located on Idaho Avenue in Kenner, along with their two other children, two boys aged 10 and 2.

According to the Kenner Police Department, they are treating the incident as a double homicide and the investigations have already begun. They have honed in on an initial suspect — a man they say lived with the couple in the same apartment. The man, whose name has not been revealed, is the current person of interest, police officials said.

The gruesome scene of the crime was discovered by the couple’s own 10-year-old son who said he heard gunshot sounds coming from his parents’ room upstairs on the morning of Monday, April 4. When he walked into the room, he saw the body of his mother covered in blood. The boy immediately ran towards another apartment nearby and alerted the residents. The neighbors called the police at around 7:15 a.m. According to officials from the Kenner Police Department, the body of the mother, Dawn Scott, was found on the bed, right next to her one-month-old daughter while the father, Raynell Kimbrough, was found lying on the floor, next to the bed.

UPDATE: Kenner couple killed in bed they shared with baby. Two other children were also home https://t.co/nEZYTEFySM pic.twitter.com/hSnaHNsCKT

— WWL-TV (@WWLTV) April 4, 2016

The gruesome crime has sent shockwaves throughout the community and even as the investigations were underway, a crowd consisting of family members and neighbors gathered near the crime scene in shock. The relatives of the couple could only watch in grief as officials took custody of the orphaned newborn baby girl and drove away with her. Officials from the Department of Children & Family Services confirm that all three children were now in a safe foster home

Family, friends left to grieve after couple found shot to death in Kenner https://t.co/UaGTihhASX pic.twitter.com/zfL2E374s5

— wdsu (@wdsu) April 5, 2016

According to Kenner Police Lt. Brian McGregor, the crime was committed when all the children were inside the apartment. Luckily, none of them were harmed. He added that Scott had suffered serious injuries to her head and the left side of her torso. Raynell was shot in the head and the left flank. This was also confirmed by the Jefferson Parish Coroner, Dr. Gerry Cvitanovich.

There is no clear indication of a motive that led to the couple’s killing, police officials say. However, with no signs of a forced entry into the apartment, they suspect the crime was committed by a person known to the family. They, however, stopped short of naming a suspect. However, the initial suspicion seems to lie on a person who, according to detectives, had spent time living with the couple inside the apartment. They have declined to give his name out. They are also looking out for a vehicle that could, possibly, be tied to the crime: a gold or a champagne-colored vehicle, likely a Ford Taurus, which was seen leaving the area after the crime.

Amongst the family members who were seen outside the apartment was 51-year-old Ellen Scott, the mother of one of the victims, Dawn Scott. She and others gathered on a small lawn outside the apartment. While many wept, others were seen shouting in anguish. Ellen, who is a cancer survivor, told her family members that God would guide them through the loss of her daughter, just as he guided her through a struggle with cancer.

“Give us the strength, give us the strength. Oh Lord, my heart is so heavy.”

Ellen also told police officers that she had spoken to her daughter on Sunday night, hours before the murders and she did not find anything amiss. The family members are at a loss as to why anyone would target the couple.

“She was a good girl. I can’t say anything else,” Scott said.

Kimbrough’s sisters are also shattered at the loss of their brother.

“My brother was a loving person. He may have had his ups, and he may have had his downs, but he never would do nobody what they did him,” Shaketha Kimbrough said. “And for them to literally put his girlfriend in the middle of this — a mother of three — I mean why?”

The couple had been together for a year and had only a month ago celebrated a baby shower.

“Whatever it may have been, it was cold-hearted. And the last person you have to answer to is God, and he’s going to handle it,” Shaketha Kimbrough said. “Whoever you may be.”

Kenner police asked anyone with information on the killings to call Detective Harold Pendergast at (504) 712-2226 or Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111.

[Image Via Pixabay]