A baby and four year old were spared while their parents were murdered in a hail of gunfire in New Orleans.  The children were forced to watch their parents die on the highway and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office is still looking for the killers.

Willie Odom and Shawna Girod were the two victims of the incident, and their children, Odom’s son and Girod’s daughter, are left to go on without their parents.

“Multiple bullet casings line the highway,” said Glen Boyd, a spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.

In spite of being known for a broad tourism industry, New Orleans is arguably the murder capital of America.  The city has the highest per capita murder rate in the country, with most of the killings happening in black, brown and poor communities.

The mayor is attempting to launch programs to dig into the culture of violence that consistently leads to the death of children and adults of all ages.  Citizens of the city say that the justice system often leads them to die trying to fend for themselves and their families via vigilante justice.

“Every time you look up, it’s a killing,” he says. “It wasn’t no killing up this way too much — not around here. But it’s happening here now. Sit on the porch, you gettin’ shot.”

– Kulture Kritic