Fifteen-year-old Roderick Jones Jr., a resident of Opelousas, Louisiana, was shot while at North City Park on the evening of June 27, 2023. First responders found him alive and took him to a local hospital; he was later pronounced brain dead and died on June 30, 2023, at Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center.

Opelousas police arrested a 14-year-old and charged the juvenile with armed robbery and first-degree murder; reports say the shooting grew out of a robbery that escalated into violence. Roderick’s family arranged an honor walk as he was taken for organ donation, and his mother, Taneisha Richard, authorized donation of his organs. A woman from Ville Platte who had been on a transplant list for three years and shared a rare blood type with him received a kidney.

Who in the Opelousas area might have seen or heard something at North City Park that evening?