by Wesley Harris
Just as the Lincoln Parish Journal was preparing to run a profile on the homicide of Nicholas Green as part of an ongoing series on local unsolved cases, Ruston Police made an arrest in the Louisiana Tech student’s 2016 shooting death.
Brandi Raney Franklin, 29, of Opelousas, was arrested January 22 by RPD with assistance from the Opelousas Police Department. She is being held at the Lincoln Parish Detention Center for negligent homicide, obstruction of justice, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Bail was set at $602,250.
Nicholas ‘Nkiko’ Green was killed on New Year’s Eve 2016 at his home on East Texas Avenue in Ruston, just a block from the parish courthouse. A Louisiana Tech student from Elton near Jennings, Green was expected to graduate in 2017. The case remained unsolved for nine years until a fresh look by RPD led to an arrest.
Green lived in one of the three apartments in a white frame building at 105 East Texas. The area is normally free of violence. And Louisiana Tech students are rarely victims of violent crime.
Sam Bourland, Nikko’s neighbor at the time, believed he heard fireworks, but was met with police cars and ambulances when he stepped outside. The chaos he saw marked the beginning of a long and unresolved case.
Lieutenant Kayla Loyd of the Ruston Police Department said at about 9:10 p.m. on December 31, 2016, officers were dispatched to the East Texas apartment regarding a report of a home invasion with an occupant shot.
When officers arrived, they found Green and three other occupants who were inside of the residence when the shooting occurred. Franklin, Green’s girlfriend, said two men broke in the front door and then the bedroom door and attempted to rob them.
“At the time of the shooting, Franklin informed officers one of the men broke into the bedroom and a fight occurred,” Loyd said, “and Green was shot.”
Franklin told police that night that during the fight, the offender dropped his gun at which point she picked it up and chased the two men out of the house.
None of the investigators who worked the case in 2016 remain in RPD’s Criminal Investigation Division. Loyd began working the case recently after her transfer to the investigative unit.
Franklin was located in Opelousas Thursday and taken into custody on two RPD warrants for possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was questioned at the Opelousas Police Department.
Loyd said Franklin confessed to her role in the shooting at that time. Once booked at the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office, Franklin was transferred to the Lincoln Parish Detention Center. Additional charges of negligent homicide and obstruction of justice were then added after arrest warrants were obtained on those charges.
Details of how the shooting actually occurred have not been released at this time.
Green relative Sadie Ackless Avery released a statement on behalf of the family: “There are no words to fully describe the emotions we are feeling right now. Relief. Pain. Anger. Gratitude. All at once.”
“Justice does not bring Nicholas back, but today reminds us that God never stopped working, even when it felt like He was silent. God is faithful.”
Loyd expressed appreciation for the Opelousas Police Department for the use of their personnel and facilities during the investigation.
Anyone with information on this case is urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 318-255-1111 or Lt. Loyd at Ruston Police at 318-255-4141.
