N.O. Man, 20, Killed After Going To Funeral Man, 25, Found Dead On I-10 Service
Road
Submitted by N.O.V.A  July 2005
Times Picayune 	06-22-1997


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A 20-year-old New Orleans man was killed Saturday afternoon in Central City
shortly after attending a funeral for his girlfriend's mother.

Police arrested a suspect and were looking for two others.

In a separate incident, a 25-year-old man was found dead Saturday morning on an
expressway service road in eastern New Orleans.

The Central City victim, Syer "Roc" Carter, had just taken his grandmother,
Lillian Carter, 87, back to her home after attending the funeral Saturday morning,
Mrs. Carter said.

"I can't take another funeral, not one more," she said after she saw her grandson
lying dead on the street three blocks from her home.

"I wanted to take my black skirt off and he just left," she said, standing in her
stocking feet and clutching the tail of her shirt bloodied by her grandson's
wounds. "Then they come and tell me Roc's dead."

Carter was shot several times shortly before 1 p.m., police said. He was still in
the formal black pants he wore for the funeral, a white rosary in one pocket. He
was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said Carter was seen arguing with three men at Danneel and Third streets
shortly before the shooting. They said he left there on his bicycle but was
confronted by the same three men in the 2100 block of Second Street. Police said
the argument resumed there and the three men began shooting at Carter, hitting him
in the back, neck, face, hands and groin.

Police spokeswoman Sgt. Erin Tumminello said a witness identified Carl Williams,
17, also known as Carl Pleasant, 2600 Carondelet St., as one of the three suspects
and he was apprehended about 3 p.m. at Carondelet and Third streets. He was booked
with second-degree murder and an unrelated battery charge, she said.

Tumminello said police were seeking the other two suspects and a motive for the
shooting.

Carter's grandmother, who said she had helped raise him and 18 other
grandchildren, hurried to the scene when she heard the news.

"We just got back from Miss Rose's funeral," she said.

The family had been at a funeral home on Danneel Street to attend services for
Rose Bell Puckett, who died of a stroke, Mrs. Carter said.

The Carters had returned home while the rest of the Puckett family proceeded to
Providence Memorial Park for Rose Puckett's burial, she said.

"Oh, no. Oh, Lord, here comes his girlfriend," she said, as the Puckett family
arrived at the scene of the shooting with funeral programs and flowers flapping in
their hands. "Poor child, Roc's girlfriend buried her mama today and now she lost
Roc."

In the other slaying, police have no suspects and no motive.

A motorist spotted a body near the Interstate 10 Service Road close to Lake Forest
Boulevard about 6 a.m., police spokesman Lt. Marlon Defillo said.

Police arrived to find Troyce Holmes of New Orleans lying face up near the
shoulder of the road with a single bullet wound to his head, Defillo said.

Detective Michael Mims is leading the investigation into Carter's death. Detective
Farrell St. Martin is in charge of the Holmes killing.

Crimestoppers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the
arrest and indictment of any of the killers. Callers who give information to the
Crimestoppers hotline at 822-1111 do not need to identify themselves or testify to
collect the reward.