by Wesley Harris
Charges in the 2016 murder case of Nicholas Green have been upgraded from negligent homicide to second degree murder, according to Ruston Police.
Brandi Raney Franklin, 29, of Opelousas, was arrested January 22 by RPD for negligent homicide. Further investigation since the arrest has led police to upgrade the charge to murder.
Franklin was arrested on a warrant for second degree murder on February 4 at the Lincoln Parish Detention Center where she was being held on charges of negligent homicide, obstruction of justice, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Bail was set at $602,250 originally.
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 in January 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.
Lieutenant Kayla Loyd of the Ruston Police Department said investigators have conducted other interviews and pursued other leads since Franklin’s initial arrest, leading to the upgraded murder charge.
Loyd 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.
Loyd, RPD’s public information officer, began working the case recently after her transfer to the investigative unit.
Franklin was located in Opelousas on January 22 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 a role in the shooting at that time. After booking at the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office, Franklin was transferred to the Lincoln Parish Detention Center where she remains with bail set at $1.5 million.
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.”
Investigation into the case is continuing. 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.
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