Zashaun Espinoza, 26, was shot multiple times and killed on the covered basketball court at Fred Dorsey Playground on Norton Street in Westwego on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 30, 2025. First responders arrived about 1:35 p.m. and pronounced him dead at the scene. Witnesses saw a man run from the area immediately after the shooting.

A tip led investigators to a man who returned to the playground while police were still working the scene. Twenty-two-year-old Byron Spottsville of Westwego was taken into custody wearing only a towel. He first denied involvement but later confessed, saying he believed Espinoza was armed. Spottsville guided police to a nearby wooded area where he said he had hidden the firearm used in the shooting and discarded his clothes; he told officers he had found the towel on a nearby porch. He was booked into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna on charges of second-degree murder and obstruction of justice and was held without bail.

Were there witnesses at Fred Dorsey Playground who saw anything before or during the shooting that haven’t yet spoken to investigators?