Terrell Head, a 28-year-old Black man, was killed in a drive-by shooting on a Saturday night in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. On July 18, 2015, a burst of gunfire tore through Brice Street, turning an ordinary neighborhood block into a crime scene. Police said the attack claimed two lives; another person was shot and killed alongside Terrell. In the immediate aftermath, investigators had not identified a shooter, and no clear motive was publicly released.
As word of the shooting spread, detectives hoped someone with information would come forward. A police spokesperson, Cpl. Coppola, made a public plea for tips. "That piece of information that someone may have, they may be holding, they may be scared to come forward, please don't be," he said. For Terrell’s family, the wait for answers was agonizing.
Terrell’s mother, Pearl Head, described her son as someone who was trying to steady his life. He was working at City Club and focused on being a father to his baby.
The loss left her devastated. "Life goes on, but I just don't know how to begin," she said. For Pearl, this was not the first time she had lost a child to violence; it was the third.
The shooting was the latest blow in a chain of tragedies that had hollowed out her family. Pearl had already buried two other sons. She said one was killed in 2008 on South 15th Street at the age of 19, and another was killed in 2012 on South 10th Street when he was 21. While arrests were made in those earlier homicides, she expressed doubts that the right people were held responsible, leaving her with the fear that the killer or killers might still be free.
In the weeks following Terrell Head's death, no arrests were announced and no suspects were publicly named. As of July 2015, his case remained unsolved, leaving his family waiting for justice and hoping that someone who knows what happened will finally step forward.
