By VICKIE JAMBON – Staff Reporter

LAPLACE- The St. John the Baptist Sheriff’s Office is investigating an apparent murder-suicide which took place Sunday at 10:59 p.m.

A state trooper working the I-55 section between LaPlace and Manchac was flagged down by a motorist and told there were two injured people inside a vehicle parked in the northbound lane of the highway, 1.5 miles north of LaPlace, according to Capt. Michael Tregre with the St. John Parish Sheriff’s office.

Tregre said the trooper discovered 32-year-old Warren Samuel Hammer of 3702 Frankford Road in Dallas, in the driver’s seat of a 2000 gold Lexus with a gunshot wound in his head. Sitting in the passenger’s seat was 29-year old Shelita L. Morgan of 3139 Utah Street in Kenner. She appeared to have been shot in the chest, added Tregre.

When the Emergency Medical Service arrived, Hammer had a faint pulse, and Morgan had no vital signs.

An Air-Med helicopter flew the couple to Charity Hospital in New Orleans, where Hammer was later pronounced dead.

Tregre said there were no known witnesses, but the Sheriff’s Office is inspecting the vehicle for possible evidence, and an autopsy is being performed on each.

He said, “At this point, it appears the shooting happened within the vehicle. We are investigating the incident as a murder-suicide.”