November 4, 2024 | By: Grace Donnellan

This story is part of a collaborative project between Project: Cold Case and the University of North Florida’s Applied Journalism class.

Jabari Edmonds valued nothing more than his family. The 21-year-old from Louisiana was an uncle, brother, son, and father; and he loved fiercely until he took his last breath on November 22, 2020.

Jabari was incredibly close with his older sister, Kourtnei. “We talked at least five times a week before he died,” she said. Close to Thanksgiving 2020, Kourtnei and her brother were texting as they normally did when Jabari wrote that he was expecting her to come down from Texas to Louisiana that night after work. “He was helping with my kids. I said I would get up early and get on the road in the morning, but then all of a sudden he stopped responding. I didn’t think anything of it. It was around 10:20 p.m. when we stopped talking.”

Kourtnei went about her night, getting ready to see her family the next morning. When she saw a missed call from her aunt around 11:15 p.m. She knew something was wrong.

She called her aunt back multiple times with no response, then called her sisters. She learned that her brother had been shot and was in the hospital. From Texas, Kourtnei immediately hit the road to Louisiana. “I didn’t know anything other than that Jabari had been shot. It’s normally a two-and-a-half-hour drive, but I made it there in an hour 45,” she said.

She later learned that Jabari had been shot seven times with an artillery rifle. His cousin was with him and was shot in the knee. The shootings occurred in Grambling, Louisiana, a town in the northwest part of the state near the Texas border.

When Kourtnei arrived, her entire family was at the hospital, but due to COVID-19 restrictions at the time, everyone had to wait outside in the parking lot. Family members were constantly calling Kourtnei to find out what happened, leaving her overwhelmed.

After hours of no updates and 48 hours of no sleep for Kourtnei, she finally decided to close her eyes. Just then, her sister came running up, crying. She said Kourtnei needed to go up and see her brother. After getting to the room, she saw Jabari “just laying there.” He fought until 2:32 p.m. the day after he was shot. Kourtnei recalls her mom saying to him, “Baby, if you’re tired, I understand,” and not long after, his vitals started dropping. “They were trying to resuscitate, but it looked like they were hurting him,” Kourtnei said. “It was heartbreaking.” For the Edmonds family, nothing has been the same since then.

Coping with Jabari’s death was something Kourtnei and her family have struggled immensely with. “Before him, you could not pay me to go to a cemetery. But now, I feel at peace when I sit and talk to him,” she said. He was goofy, a clown, according to Kourtnei. Jabari constantly joked around with his older sister, and she says she can always hear him in the back of her mind.

His father had the same type of love toward Jabari. He was a daddy’s boy through and through. After he was murdered, Kourtnei and Jabari’s father developed a close relationship; they talk all the time and always check in with each other. “When Jabari died, his dad lost it. He will never be the same. He still pays Jabari’s phone bill just to hear his voice.”

Jabari loved his nephews tremendously; one year, he participated in an Easter egg hunt with them. Jabari always visited Kourtnei to hang out with them and would consistently text her eldest child. Her son would tell Jabari what they were having for dinner, and he would show up at his sister’s house with his own plate. “He was greedy. Lord, the child could eat,” Kourtnei said, laughing. “Anything with leftovers, there was no leftovers.”

Although he treated his nephews as his own children, Jabari also was a father to two daughters, now ages 10 and 6. His youngest looks just like him, and she is spoiled in the most loving way, according to Kourtnei.

He was a role model for more than just his own kids – he was the only one who could keep his nephew in line.

Jabari grew up in a big sports family. Their main sports were baseball and softball, and he played baseball and football throughout grade school and high school. “If you knew me, you knew that was my baby,” says Kourtnei. Jabari valued his family and their happiness over everything. “He was a great uncle, great brother – he was different. When he had a bad day, his attitude was still on 10,” Kourtnei said. His main goal was to always make his loved ones laugh.

Jabari had attended Grambling State University for two years before taking a break. Kourtnei said he was just starting to figure out what he wanted to do with his life before it was tragically taken from him too soon. Jabari’s whole family including his mother, sisters, father and his children are still mourning the unthinkable loss. Despite any efforts to find out what happened on November 21, 2020, there are still no answers for Jabari’s family.

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Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to contact the Grambling Police Department at (318) 247-3771. To remain anonymous and be eligible for a cash reward, submit a tip to Crime Stoppers at (318) 255-1111.

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