A 28-year-old college student’s family is shocked and heartbroken after he was shot and killed in New Orleans’ first homicide of 2013. Detectives consider robbery a possible motive, according to The Times-Picayune.
Just after 9:00 a.m. on New Year’s day, Antonio Llovet's parents entered the dwelling Llovet rented from them to find their son lying face-down on his couch, covered in blood and with a gunshot wound in his head. His sister said the family is in shock.
A neighbor told The Times-Picayune he thinks that the perpetrator killed a man senselessly, since Llovet was generous, outgoing and friendly.
"My first question was, 'Why?' He was a damn good dude. He helped everybody. They put my boy in a bag when they could've asked him for anything," said the neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous because the killer is still at large.
Llovet studied petroleum engineering at Delgado Community College and worked nights waiting tables at Bayona, an upscale restaurant in the city’s French Quarter.
Susan Spicer, chef and owner of Bayona, said Llovet is the restaurant's fourth employee in a year to be involved in one of the city's murders. She summarized her thoughts on violence in New Orleans to WVUE’s Chris Rose, saying, “It's like you can't go about your life. It's like you have no rights just to be a normal person... It's just senseless violence that we experience every single day that has affected everybody in this city."
Last January, 26 people were slain in New Orleans, which is struggling to shed its murder city image, according to CNN. More than half were under 30 years old.
Speaking last March, Mayor Mitch Landrieu identified allaying the city’s murder rate his highest priority:
By the time you wake up tomorrow morning, I will have likely received another message -- the worst part of my day -- that says exactly the same thing: “Mr. Mayor, we are sorry to inform you that earlier this evening, police officers responded to gunshots. When they arrived on the scene, they found a young, African-American male face down in blood, gunshots in the back of his head. He was pronounced dead on arrival. There. Are. No. Witnesses.”
Click here for a visualization of 2012 murders in New Orleans.