Jury rejects self-defense claim in fatal slaying of teen on Shreveport basketball court

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A Caddo Parish jury returned a guilty verdict for a man accused of slaying a childhood friend at Anderson Island Park in 2022.

The unanimous verdict was returned after less than an hour of jury deliberations against Andre Deshun Gladney, who is 22, but was 18 at the time of the fatal shooting on March 7, 2022.

Gladney and the victim, 19-year-old Taurean Coleman, met in middle school, according to the Caddo Parish District Attorney. Gladney pleaded not guilty and claimed that he shot and killed Coleman on the basketball court in self-defense.

The lead Shreveport Police Detective who interviewed Gladney during the investigation testified that Gladney admitted to shooting Coleman but claimed that he only fired shots because he believed Coleman would kill him.

The jury rejected the self-defense claim after evidence in court revealed that Coleman was shot a total of eight times, with six of those shots fired into his back. DNA evidence on the gun matched Gladney, and blood on Gladney’s jacket matched Coleman.

The Caddo DA established that Coleman was unarmed and had no immediate access to a weapon.

Gladney will return to court for sentencing on August 28, 2025. The penalty for second-degree murder is mandatory life in prison without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.