Second suspect booked in slaying

“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, according to information we’ve received.” Eddie stewart,   Clinton police chief, on shooting victim Isaac Simmons

CLINTON — Police arrested a second suspect Wednesday in the shooting death of a Clinton man last week, Police Chief Eddie Stewart said.

Stewart said Cordero L. Morgan, 25, surrendered Tuesday night to officers in Baton Rouge after an intensive manhunt by Baton Rouge police and State Police detectives.

Stewart said Morgan told police he is homeless, but East Baton Rouge Parish Prison booking records list his address as 2136 N. Lobdell Blvd., Apartment 1001.

Clinton police obtained an arrest warrant Tuesday accusing Morgan of first-degree murder in the Aug. 8 slaying of Isaac Simmons, 42, during what Stewart said was a drug deal that turned into a robbery attempt and shooting.

The shooting occurred outside a mobile home at Kennedy and Johnson streets in Clinton.

Simmons was not part of the drug deal but was hit by a bullet as he walked on the street, Stewart said.

“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, according to information we’ve received,” the police chief said.

Less than 24 hours after the shooting, police in Baton Rouge arrested Jerald Matthews, 26, formerly of Ethel, on a Clinton Police Department warrant.

Matthews was booked Monday at the East Feliciana Parish Jail on a first-degree murder count.

Stewart said Matthews and Morgan drove from Baton Rouge to Clinton in a borrowed pickup truck to buy cocaine, but tried to rob the men who sold them the drugs before they left the area.

One of the two Clinton men, who have not been arrested, may have traded shots with Morgan and Matthews, the police chief said.

Police recovered the truck in the area of North Gerard Circle in Baton Rouge, and found that it had bullet holes in the body and a shattered back window, Stewart said.

Stewart said the investigation is continuing and more arrests are possible.