50-year-old woman shot, killed on Mardi Gras was cousin of NOPD Interim Superintendent

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A 50-year-old woman was fatally shot on Mardi Gras in the Seventh Ward, according to the New Orleans Police Department.

Around 9:37 p.m., police responded to a shooting in the 1500 block of North Claiborne Avenue. The victim, identified by the parish coroner as Nicole Williams, was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound.

She was pronounced dead upon arrival.

NOPD Interim Superintendent Michelle Woodfork said the woman was her cousin.

“Fifty years old. Lost her life and she was doing absolutely nothing,” Woodfork said in a press conference Thursday. “My family’s really sad and I just ask that you pray for my family.”

Police booked Raychell J. White, 29, on Wednesday with second-degree murder, jail records show. Bail is set at $250,000.

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Last year, Williams mourned the death of her son, 27-year-old Darrin Williams, who was one of three people slain in an apartment in Gentilly on March 21.

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