What started as a routine medical call in New Orleans' Fifth District on Saturday (July 11) quickly turned into a homicide investigation after officers and New Orleans EMS found an unresponsive woman in the 2000 block of Franklin Avenue. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene, and the call was later upgraded to a homicide. Detectives began canvassing the neighborhood as the Orleans Parish Coroner prepared to take custody of the body.
Scene and initial response
According to a Facebook post by the New Orleans Police Department, Fifth District officers and New Orleans EMS responded to a medical call in the 2000 block of Franklin Avenue and found a female victim who was unresponsive and later pronounced deceased at the scene. The department said it changed the incident signal to a homicide at about 5:22 p.m. Per the Orleans Parish Coroner's Office, the coroner will identify the decedent and determine the official cause of death once next of kin have been notified and an autopsy is completed.
How to help detectives
Detectives are now asking the public to help fill in the blanks. Anyone with information is asked to call NOPD Homicide detectives at 504-658-5300, as reported by FOX 8, or to submit anonymous tips to Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP. Tips can also be filed online at the Crimestoppers website. Authorities said any video or small detail could help investigators piece together what happened.
Where this fits in the city
The Fifth District, which includes St. Roch and the Lower Ninth Ward, has seen several shootings this year, including a May surge that Hoodline covered in reporting on early-morning gunfire in those neighborhoods. At the same time, local reporters note that violent crime across New Orleans has dropped sharply in 2026, with the city recording one of its lowest year-to-date homicide totals in decades, a trend outlined by The Times-Picayune.
