NEW ORLEANS — Like many parents, Deondra Wright was focused on a new school year for her kids last August. Then she got a phone call.
“We were supposed to meet up and get some school supplies and stuff for the kids, and then a couple of hours later, I got that phone call that he was deceased,” Wright said.
The father of her two young kids, Geremie Middleton was shot on August 12th, 2021, in Franklinton.
“I went into shock,” Wright said.
It happened at the Magee Trailer Park on Woods Drive. Another man was also shot. He survived. Middleton died.
“I have my breakdowns, and I don’t want this case to go cold,” Wright said.
Wright says since that day she’s battled physical and mental health issues, related to the murder of the man she cared for.
“People don’t understand sometimes how it feels not to sleep at night, have to watch your surroundings because you don’t know who did this,” Wright said.
Through constant wondering, Wright just wants closure to a very painful chapter.
“It’s been a horrible year and a half,” Wright said. “It don’t get better.”
To get better, Wright is pleading for someone to come forward with information. That’s why Crimestoppers is working with police.
“You want to have closure, and that’s something that’s just a piece of the grieving process and the healing process,” Crimestoppers CEO Darlene Cusanza said.
Cusanza said getting information, especially in smaller communities, can be challenging
“In small communities, it’s very hard because there’s a lot of, less separation between possible victims and perpetrators,” Cusanza said.
Wright doesn’t know exactly what Middleton was doing at that trailer park last August, but what she does know is the commitment he was making to their two kids… and his six others.
“This man’s goal was to be in his kids’ lives. That’s all he wanted was to be in his kids’ lives. Y’all took that from him. Y’all took that from him,” said Wright.
Monday afternoon, Franklinton police told Eyewitness News that progress is being made in this case, and they’re confident an arrest will be made.
Crimestoppers is offering a $2,500 reward for information in the case. The number to anonymously report information is 504-822-1111.
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