A 48-year-old New Orleans man is accused of fatally shooting two friends weeks apart with the same 9 mm handgun, according to New Orleans police. Rodney Ramon Jackson now faces two counts of second-degree murder in the killings of 44-year-old Earl Vincent and 46-year-old Christopher Cross, with a combined bond of $1.5 million.
Ballistics Tie Two Killings Together
Jackson was first booked for second-degree murder in Vincent's death on Halloween in 2025, and was rebooked on a second murder count last week in Cross' killing, according to NOLA.com. Homicide detectives linked Jackson to Cross' killing through ballistics evidence and a video, the outlet reports. Investigators say the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network matched the same firearm to both shootings, according to the affidavit.
Court documents say Jackson allegedly killed Vincent after an argument over missing heroin, using a 9 mm firearm to shoot him at Odyssey House, which had provided Jackson treatment for heroin addiction. Vincent was killed in the 1200 block of Lizardi Street. The NOPD Violent Offender Warrant Squad arrested Jackson three weeks after the Vincent shooting, per the same account.
A Decomposing Body and an Unclassified Death
Weeks before Vincent's killing, New Orleans police had responded to Cross' home in the 1400 block of Elysian Fields Avenue on September 4, 2025, after his uncle found him on the kitchen floor. Cross was found in an advanced state of decomposition, and his family had not heard from him for days beforehand. Because of his body's condition and the absence of forced entry or a struggle, police initially classified the death as unclassified, the station notes.
An autopsy determined Cross died from a gunshot wound, according to Audacy/WWL, which reported that officers arrived to find Cross unresponsive on the floor of the residence. New Orleans police say Cross was shot once in the back of the head, and the coroner determined he died from a single gunshot wound. Investigators recovered a spent 9 mm casing at the scene along with two foil wrappers containing powder residue indicative of narcotics use.
Jackson Denied Knowing Cross, Detective Wrote
Jackson denied knowing Cross at all, even as family members told Detective James Fyfe about a Facebook video featuring both men together. Fyfe wrote that the perpetrator was likely known and trusted by Cross, given the circumstances of the killing. The detective also wrote that during Jackson's first known jail call, Jackson reassured family that he was charged with only one murder — before the second count was filed.
An affidavit described as exceptionally low the likelihood that two murders involving Jackson's close associates, both linked by heroin use and occurring within a month using the same weapon, were coincidental. Jackson pleaded not guilty in Vincent's killing at his March arraignment in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. He is currently held at the Orleans Justice Center, with bond set at $750,000 and no bond set on a separate obstruction of justice charge.
What Jackson Could Face
Louisiana law provides that a conviction for second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment at hard labor, without the possibility of parole, probation or suspended sentence, according to the Louisiana Legislature. Jackson now faces that exposure twice over, pending further proceedings in both cases.
The case lands amid a broader shift in the city's homicide numbers. New Orleans recorded 121 murders in 2025, a decline from its recent peak, according to PBS News. Murders fell 3% between 2024 and 2025 and 55% between 2022 and 2025, per Axios New Orleans reporting. Axios also reported that the city had seen 33 homicides so far in 2026 as of early July, compared with 39 at the same point in 2025, while separate NOPD data detailed first-quarter 2026 violent-crime statistics.
