COVINGTON - Police have an unusual homicide case on their hands. A 25-year-old man was shot in the leg last week, but he never came forward with the injury until several days ago. Now, authorities are trying to piece together what exactly happened.
Covington Police are in the midst of an investigation, one filled with twists and turns.
"It's one of the more bizarre cases in Covington I can tell you that," said Stephen Culotta, Interim Police Chief.
On February 14, officers were sent to a home on West 31st Street, and were told by witnesses there a masked man walked up to the residence, started shooting, and walked away.
"That night, we found evidence on the scene that contradicted what they said, but, we had nothing else concrete to go further on," said Culotta. "No blood on the scene, nobody mentioned anything about somebody possibly being hit. We can't release too much because it is an active investigation, but the initial statements made by witnesses were not accurate. We were not told the whole truth."
Three days later, 25-year-old Jarriell Jones went to a hospital, and told staff he'd been shot in the leg on Bourbon Street. However, authorities found that wasn't true only after the victim died from complications Tuesday morning.
"It wasn't until after he passed that now family and friends are coming forward telling us, no this is what really happened," Culotta said. "The incident didn't happen on Bourbon Street. It actually happened here in Covington at the shooting that happened on February 14."
With little cooperation from witnesses, authorities are asking for the public's help.
"I don't know why they were protecting him in the beginning," Culotta said. "We're running into a lot of roadblocks, it's a very hard case it really is."
However, they say one way or another the truth will come out, and they'll find out what happened.
The last homicide Covington authorities investigated was two years ago in 2017. Prior to that, there was one reported in 2008.
Culotta says this shooting is believed to be an isolated event and encourages anyone with information to call Crimestoppers at 822-1111.