48 Hours – “A City on the Edge”

Podcast: 48 Hours
Host: CBS News
Date: September 11, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of “48 Hours” delves into the wave of violence that swept post-Katrina New Orleans, told through the tragic stories of filmmaker Helen Hill and band director Dineral Shavers—two beloved residents who returned after Hurricane Katrina to help rebuild, only to become high-profile homicide victims. The episode scrutinizes the city’s failing criminal justice system, the enduring trauma for survivors, and the ways these murders galvanized a desperate search for justice and change.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Helen Hill: A Life Cut Short

[00:46 – 11:12]

• Background: Helen Hill, a creative, bohemian filmmaker devoted to New Orleans, returned with her husband Paul and son Francis a year after Katrina, determined to help rebuild the city.
• Family and Career: Raised in South Carolina, Helen’s animated films captured a childlike wonder and depth. She and Paul, after meeting at Harvard, settled in New Orleans—Paul caring for the underserved as a doctor, Helen as an artist and mother.
• Katrina’s Impact: The family fled Katrina, losing most possessions and Helen’s films. Despite safety concerns, Helen insisted on returning:

  “Helen was very, very determined to move back...I think she wanted to be part of that rebuilding of New Orleans.” — Narrator [08:05]

• Murder: On January 3, 2007, Helen was murdered in her home during a break-in, having heroically tried to protect her son. Paul recounts the horror:

  “I saw right away that there was a man restraining her...She was struggling and she yelled out, ‘Call 911.’” — Paul (as narrated) [09:32]
  “She was lying there and wasn’t moving and her eyes were closed...There was blood by her head and Frances saw it too.” — Paul (as narrated) [10:33]

• Aftermath: No suspects, few leads, and a broken system left the case cold, fueling anger and despair among family and friends:

  “My sister was just murdered and I’m going to meet with detectives in trailers.” — Jake Hill [24:46]

2. Dineral Shavers: Hope Through Music, Lost to Violence

[12:45 – 20:31]

• Backstory & Talent: Dineral (“De Niro”) Shavers was the vibrant drummer of the Hot 8 Brass Band, growing up in the Ninth Ward where music and community shaped his path.
• Katrina’s Aftermath: The band and his family, like many, were dispersed by the hurricane, but reassembled to restore New Orleans’s musical soul.
• Educational Mission: At Rob Wynn High School, Shavers started a band program from scratch, inspiring dozens of students:

  “I want to start a band here.” — Shavers (relayed by principal Kevin George) [18:58]
  “He was like an angel. Dinero touched so many people.” — Former student [19:46]

• Murder: On December 28, 2006, Shavers was killed in a drive-by shooting while trying to protect his stepson. The loss devastated students, family, and the music community:

  “To take him away from us, the way that happened was very difficult for a lot of us.” — Yolanda, De Niro’s mother [21:42]

3. A City in Crisis

[02:29, 23:07, 25:27, 32:20, 36:03]

• Escalating Violence: The episode underscores New Orleans’s soaring murder rate post-Katrina (“17 murders a month, highest in any city” [02:29]) and neighborhoods now patrolled by the National Guard.
• A Broken Justice System:
  • Police resources gutted (“working in trailers” [24:46]), lack of crime lab, hundreds fewer officers
  • Abysmal prosecution rates: out of 162 homicides in 2006, only 5 convictions [31:47]
  • Witness fear rampant, leading to collapsed prosecutions:

    “No one wants to testify because they're afraid that this guy’s gonna be out of jail.” — Lt. Mike Glasser [32:49]

  • Public defender William Boggs alleges police corner-cutting under pressure:

    “You had a rumor...that the police seized upon and then declared the case solved.” — William Boggs [33:58]

• Systemic Failure:

  "If we don't remove the power structure and rebuild it, the whole system will fall apart. Shame on you, Mayor Nagin, Superintendent Riley, District Attorney Jordan. You have really let us down." — Garland Robinette, radio host [36:14]

4. Calls to Action: Grief Becomes Protest

[27:09 – 28:50]

• Community Organizing: Musician Beatty Landis and others, shocked by the killings, started the “Silence is Violence” initiative, prompting thousands to march on City Hall:

  “But that day, not dozens, not even hundreds, but thousands of people came marching from neighborhoods all over New Orleans.” — Interviewer [28:25]

• Demand for Change:

  “We have come to declare that a city which could not be drowned in the waters of a storm will not be drowned in the blood of its citizens.” — Pastor John Raphael [41:49]

5. Aftermath: Unanswered Questions, Enduring Spirit

[40:47 – 45:19]

• Open Wounds: Neither case is resolved. Helen Hill's killer remains unidentified; Shavers’s accused killer, David Bonds, was twice arrested and ultimately acquitted after key witnesses recanted ([38:42], [39:48]).
• Personal Loss: Both families struggle to heal. Paul moves away, feeling betrayed by a city that failed to protect them:

  “Everything’s completely different and empty without her.” — Paul [41:10]

• Legacy: Dineral’s students keep playing, the band he formed now thriving—his vision endures:

  “But, like, something hit me, like, keep on going, Rashad. You started, keep on going.” — Former student [44:02] “Katrina couldn’t kill New Orleans. But the continuing storm of murder just might.” — Interviewer [45:08]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Returning After Katrina:

  “Helen was not naive. She was concerned about coming back to a city that was recovering and was still broken... But Helen and Paul came back to be part of the rebuilding. And I admire them for that.” — Jake Hill [00:46]

• The Trauma of Witnessing Loss:

  “She was lying there and wasn’t moving... There was blood by her head and Francis saw it too.” — Paul [10:33] “To take him away from us, the way that happened was very difficult for a lot of us.” — Yolanda Shavers [21:42]

• On the Broken System:

  “My sister was just murdered and I’m going to meet with detectives in trailers. Our offices are in a FEMA trailer in the middle of the tennis court.” — Jake Hill [24:46]

• On Civic Mobilization:

  “Thousands of people came marching from neighborhoods all over New Orleans.” — Interviewer, on the Silence is Violence march [28:25] “We have come to declare that a city which could not be drowned in the waters of a storm will not be drowned in the blood of its citizens.” — Pastor John Raphael [41:49]

Timestamps of Key Segments

• [00:46 – 11:12] — Helen Hill’s life, work, and tragic murder
• [12:45 – 20:31] — Profile of Dineral Shavers, his role in the community, and his murder
• [23:07 – 26:47] — Failings of the justice system and the context of law enforcement struggles
• [27:09 – 28:50] — The “Silence is Violence” protest and demand for justice
• [31:12 – 40:15] — Attempts at prosecution, failure of the system, and community frustration
• [41:49 – 45:19] — Reflections, unresolved grief, and the hope carried by the next generation

Conclusion

In “A City on the Edge,” 48 Hours provides a heart-wrenching, deeply reported look at post-Katrina New Orleans—humanizing its violent crime crisis, exposing deep cracks in its criminal justice system, and capturing the resilience and heartbreak of a community that refuses to quit, even as the answers and justice they seek remain elusive.
Helen Hill and Dineral Shavers’ deaths became a rallying point, but as the episode poignantly observes, the wounds of violence outlast even the city’s hardest storms.