A promising young athlete’s life ended in a shooting near the New Iberia Spanish Festival. Rylon Martrel Daniels, identified in reports as 14 years old, was shot on the evening of Saturday, April 12, 2025, on the 100 block of West Main Street. New Iberia Police were called around 10:00 p.m.; Daniels was found with gunshot wounds, taken to a nearby hospital, and pronounced dead.

Daniels was a student at Belle Place Middle School and starred in basketball, football, and track. His family and friends remember him as kind, with an infectious laugh and a bright future. After the shooting his mother received a pocket-dial from his phone that captured chaotic moments following the attack.

A 15-year-old male juvenile was taken into custody and booked into a juvenile facility on charges of second-degree murder, illegal use of a weapon, and illegal possession of a handgun. The motive has not been released.

If anyone has information about Daniels, the shooting, or the events near the festival that night, please share what is known.