A minor incident between a pedestrian and a driver that most people might have shrugged off as part of life in the big city instead turned into murder near a downtown nightclub, prosecutors said this week as a judge detained the accused gunman, saying he had “demonstrated an utter lack of value for human life.”
Rashawn Ward, 31, is charged with first-degree murder in the September 18, 2021, shooting death of Royal Shorts, 33, of Hammond. Prosecutors said the two men apparently did not know each other before they crossed paths by chance in the 800 block of North Orleans Street.
It was about 3:48 a.m. when Shorts was crossing Orleans diagonally and an SUV nearly struck him. Shorts sped up to get out of the vehicle’s way and tapped the rear passenger side of the SUV with his hand as he continued walking away. The SUV stopped…