When Selonia Reed Never Came Home

Summary

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48 Hours – "When Selonia Reed Never Came Home"

Date: June 29, 2026 | Host: CBS News | Reporter: Vladimir Duthier

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Episode Overview

This gripping episode of “48 Hours” delves into the decades-old murder of Selonia Reed, a case that haunted her family and the small Louisiana town of Hammond. Through personal recollections, investigative breakthroughs, and courtroom drama, the episode explores the multi-layered search for justice, the devastating effects on young Reggie Reed Jr., and the lingering ambiguities that still challenge everyone involved.

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Major Discussion Points & Insights

The Disappearance and Murder (00:38-09:17)

• Reggie’s Early Memories:
  • Reggie Reed Jr. was only six years old when his mother disappeared. His memories from that day are fragmented, but he recalls their time at Hammond Square Mall and his mother’s final kiss before she left home.
  • "When I think about how my mother's life was shortened...I feel empty." – Reggie Reed Jr. (05:19)
• Discovery of the Body:
  • Officer Charles Muse responds to a missing person call and spots Selonia’s car. Inside, her body is found; she had been brutally stabbed and sexually assaulted.
    • "Solonya's body was in between the bucket seats of the car with her torso over into the back seat..." – Officer Charles Muse (06:49)
  • Detectives notice evidence suggesting she may have been murdered elsewhere.

Early Investigation and Family Dynamics (09:47-16:38)

• Initial Suspects and Alibis:
  • Focus quickly settles on Selonia’s husband, Reginald Reed, but he and his son (Reggie Jr.) claim to have been together at home playing Nintendo that night.
    • "Everybody stayed home that night." – Detective/Narrator (11:17)
  • Investigators also take note of a bleach smell in the house but find no blood or definitive evidence.
• Personal and Marital Turmoil:
  • Testimonies highlight marital discord, allegations of abuse, and rumors of divorce—but no direct evidence tying Reginald to the crime at this stage.
  • Salonia’s sister points suspicion at Jimmy Ray Barnes, a friend of Reginald whom Salonia distrusted.

The Barnes Twin Twist & Dead Ends (17:06-23:27)

• Turn Toward Jimmy Ray Barnes:
  • Winston cigarette butt found at the scene; Jimmy Ray Barnes, and his identical twin Billy Ray, both smoked Winstons. DNA tests ultimately match Billy Ray, but as identical twins, they share DNA—a forensic dead end.
    • "Identical twins share identical DNA." – Lt. Barry Ward (20:16)
• Incriminating Testimony:
  • Jimmy Ray reveals that Reginald offered him $50,000 to "knock off" his wife. However, he refuses to testify this in court initially.
    • "Reginald asked you if you would, quote, by your term, knock off his wife. And you took that to mean to kill her, to murder her?" – Lt. Barry Ward (22:00)
    • "Right." – Jimmy Ray Barnes (22:01)

Prosecutorial Persistence and Breakthroughs (23:39-26:19)

• New Energy and Renewed Promise:
  • Young prosecutor Taylor Anthony revisits the cold case, forming a determined alliance with Lt. Ward. After years of delay and reluctance from previous prosecutors, a grand jury indicts both Reginald Reed and Jimmy Ray Barnes in 2019.

Trial and Layers of Doubt (28:30-33:53)

• Trial Proceedings (Nov 2022):
  • The defense points out lack of direct evidence—no murder weapon, fingerprints, or clear DNA tying Reginald to the homicide.
    • "There's no direct evidence..." – Defense Attorney William Simon (29:01)
  • Prosecution focuses on circumstantial evidence:
    • $700,000 life insurance policies on Selonia, some recently acquired.
    • Scratches on Reginald’s neck, discrepancies in his stories.
    • The white lotion found with a matching bottle at the Reed home.
    • Jimmy Ray’s testimony implicates Reginald as the mastermind; however, under cross-examination, defense suggests Jimmy Ray’s own obsession with Selonia and his violent past.

Aftermath, Conviction, and Lingering Pain (35:04-41:51)

• Verdict:
  • After three hours of jury deliberation, Reginald Reed Sr. is found guilty of second-degree murder (35:21).
    • "When he was found guilty. I feel like he died without dying. And I saw myself as that same 6-year-old crying..." — Reggie Reed Jr. (35:35)
• Sentencing and Family Fallout:
  • Reginald Reed receives life without parole.
    • "I want justice, but I didn't think justice was going to come at the price of my dad going to prison for life." – Reggie Reed Jr. (37:36)
  • Reggie Jr. remains conflicted, unsure of his father’s guilt, expressing a wrenching sense of loss and unresolved questions.
    • "Do I think my dad had some involvement? Maybe. I don't know though." – Reggie Reed Jr. (37:54)

Epilogue: Legacy and Healing

• Family, Memory, and New Life:
  • Reggie Jr. names his newborn daughter Salonia, giving his mother’s name a new lease on life.
    • "When our daughter was born, we both agreed...give that name an opportunity to live life and be recognized in a positive way." – Reggie Reed Jr. (41:32)
  • Jimmy Ray Barnes, after serving prison time as an accessory, dies in a car accident in 2024.

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Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• "My mother, she was the love of my life, my first love, and I was her everything." – Reggie Reed Jr. (00:38)
• "It was pretty apparent to me right away that whoever did this homicide hated this woman." – Prosecutor Taylor Anthony (02:22)
• "Someone asks me, who is Salonia? I would say you looking at her... When I look in the mirror, I see my mother." – Reggie Reed Jr. (05:32)
• "There's a lot of circumstantial evidence in 1987 that pointed to Reginald Reed and Jimmy Ray Barnes. As far as a smoking gun, it was not there at that time." – Lt. Barry Ward (15:38)
• "He offered you $50,000? ... That's the amount he offered." – Lt. Barry Ward & Jimmy Ray Barnes (22:16-22:22)
• "The dead cannot cry out for justice. It is the duty of the living to do so for them." – Prosecutor Taylor Anthony (29:15)
• "I feel numb. This is where it all started, you know? ... This is the TV room." – Reggie Reed Jr. (16:26)
• "I just can't imagine what it's like as a six year old to have to sit there..." – Interviewer/Narrator (12:07)
• "I can't just turn a page and just look at my father as a complete monster." – Reggie Reed Jr. (38:13)
• "Her death, you know, didn't just go in vain. I find some peace in that." – Officer Charles Muse (39:49)
• "Absolutely. And I think about that she's in a place where she's consistently watching over me." – Reggie Reed Jr. (40:12)
• "When our daughter was born, we both agreed there's no other name that we should name her except Salonia..." – Reggie Reed Jr. (41:32)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:38: Reggie Reed Jr. recounts his early memories and relationship with mother
• 01:34: Discovery of Selonia's body
• 06:36: Officer Muse describes discovering the crime scene
• 10:30: Police search of the Reed home
• 13:44: Suspicion turns to Jimmy Ray Barnes
• 20:04: DNA test points to Billy Ray Barnes
• 22:00: Jimmy Ray recounts Reginald’s murder-for-hire request
• 25:33: Barnes’s taunt: "I'm the key to it all... If you think you can indict me, do it."
• 26:19: Grand jury indicts Reginald and Jimmy Ray
• 29:15: Prosecutor Anthony's driving philosophy
• 32:14: Jimmy Ray testifies in court
• 35:21: Jury delivers a guilty verdict
• 36:03: Reggie Jr. on losing his father
• 37:54: Reggie Jr. struggles with doubts about his father’s involvement
• 39:49: Officer Muse reflects on the case's resolution
• 41:32: Reggie Jr. names his daughter Salonia

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Tone and Atmosphere

The episode skillfully weaves a tapestry of grief, uncertainty, dogged pursuit of justice, and generational trauma. The voices of Reggie Reed Jr., investigators, prosecutors, and family members underscore both the devastation wrought by the crime and the complex, sometimes agonizing, process of unraveling the truth.

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Conclusion

"When Selonia Reed Never Came Home" is as much a story about the search for justice as it is about memory, trauma, and complicated love. It highlights the burdens borne by those left behind, the tireless dedication of investigators undeterred by decades, and the unresolved questions that linger even after verdicts are delivered. Through Reggie Jr.'s eyes, we see a son's struggle to reconcile past and present, and the enduring hope of honoring his mother’s memory.

Transcript

[Narrator/Advertiser]

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[Reggie Reed Jr.]

My name is Reggie Reed. Celonia Reed is my mother and Reginald Reed Sr. Is my father. My mother, she was the love of my life, my first love, and I was her everything. It was very rare. I wasn't by her side.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Take me back and tell me what you remember about that day.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

That day we went to the mall. That's one of the things to do in Hammond. Just go to the mall. Even though if you're not buying anything, window shop, if you will. Went to the mall, came home and my mom went out and she never came home.

[Detective/Police Officer]

My beeper went off and it was Reginald. And he asked me had I seen Salonia. And I said no, not since yesterday.

[Officer Charles Muse]

I was a patrol officer for the Hammond Police Department. I was dispatched to a missing persons call on Apple street in Hammond, Louisiana. The complainant, Reginald Reed, explained to me that his wife had left home the night before and had not returned. And he was concerned and wanted to file a missing person's report. I had received a description of the car from Reginald and I started to drive up Range Road and I noticed the car, walked up to the car and noticed Salonia's body inside the car. It was very, very, very obvious that she was deceased.

[Prosecutor Taylor Anthony]

Salonia was 26 years old at the time. When I watched the crime scene video and saw Salonia's body in that car, immediately I was sad, I was mad. It was pretty apparent to me right away that whoever did this homicide hated this woman.

[Detective/Police Officer]

So I called Reginald back. I says, reginald, have you heard anything? He told me? He said, yes. He said they found her in her car and he said that she was dead. And that was.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

I was interviewed after she was murdered as a six year old. Okay, can you tell me your name?

[Defense Attorney William Simon]

Shanice.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

When I watched that video over and over again. Okay, the day before Sunday, what did you do? What I see is a 6 year old boy that. That life had been changed. He doesn't understand the magnitude of it yet. And you asking me, you trying to find who killed my mother.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Do you remember seeing her, Lily?

[Officer Charles Muse]

You did.

[Prosecutor Taylor Anthony]

Anytime a young woman Saloni's age is killed the way she's killed, I think most people right away would assume the husband did it right. And that's the easy way, that's the stereotypical way. But it's also not out of the realm of possibility that this was some killing for another reason.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

From that day on, my life changed from forever. It just begs the question why?

[Reporter Vladimir Duthier]

Vladimir Duthier reports. The day my mother never came home.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

After my mother was murdered, things moved fast. Couldn't really understand, like, why would somebody kill her? Like, what did she do?

[Interviewer/Narrator]

It's been decades since Reggie Reed Jr. Last saw his mother, Salonia.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

I feel like I missed out on a huge part of life that I'll never get back.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Reggie was only six years old on August 22, 1987. One of the last things he remembers is his mother buying him a chocolate chip cookie here at the Hammond Square Mall in Louisiana. He told police his mother kissed him when she left the house later that night. But the rest, he says, is a blur. When you think about that, what does that feel like?

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

When I think about how my mother's life was shortened and how my experience was shortened, I feel empty.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Somebody says to you, who is Salonia? What do you say?

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

Someone asks me, who is Salonia? I would say you looking at her. Because based on description, the memories and what things people have shared, when I look in the mirror, I see my mother.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Reggie's memories are at the heart of the memoir he's written about his mother's murder. The Day My Mother Never Came Home.

[Reporter Vladimir Duthier]

Within these pages you will find the memories of a six year old boy whose mother was murdered. A 15 year old young man searching for his place in the world without the guidance and encouragement of his mother. The night my mother went out and never came home, life for me and my father basically flipped upside down.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Charles Muse, now retired, was the police officer who found Salonia's body after taking the initial missing person's report from her husband, Reginald Reed.

[Officer Charles Muse]

Solonya's body was in between the bucket seats of the car with her torso over into the back seat of the car.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

She had 16 pinpoint like stab wounds in her upper torso, shoulder and neck. Her blouse had been torn off. Her pants had been removed from her. She had been sexually assaulted as well.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Louisiana State Police Lt. Barry Ward would eventually be assigned to the case years later. He was only 16 years old when Solonia was murdered in 1987.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

I was a sophomore in Marshall County High School in Western Kentucky.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

When he eventually did pick up the case file, he took note of the lack of blood in the car.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

It would suggest that she was murdered in another location and then transported to where her body was later discovered at the Johns Kerr Market.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

That market was about one and a half miles from the Reed house on Apple Street. At the scene, Officer Muse noticed something else about Salonia's naked body.

[Officer Charles Muse]

I did see a substance that had been placed on the body. It was a white liquid type substance on her torso and stomach area.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Police believe the white lotion may have spelled out a word, but if there was a message, it had become illegible in the Louisiana heat.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

The windows were rolled up. It was August at the time. It was very hot out.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Detectives bagged any potential evidence, including the butt of a cigarette, a Winston cigarette. Police canvassed the area, but Ward says they didn't find any eyewitnesses or a murder weapon.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

The following day, On Monday the 24th, a neighbor went to his mailbox and discovered a crucifix and a screwdriver.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Given the nature of Salonia's injuries, police at first believed the screwdriver might be the murder weapon, even though it had no visible blood on was early in the investigation, and detectives looked at all the angles, including Salonia's job at Citizens National Bank.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

She was a teller in the commercial section. She was described as being polite, kind, had a nice smile.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Here she is taking part in a community fashion show just one week before her murder. Salonia and Reginald, who was a Marine and later a car salesman, met during their high school years. Solonia was known for being devoted to little Reggie, as everyone called him. But the night she disappeared, she left the six year old at home with his father. According to what Reginald told police, he

[Lt. Barry Ward]

and his son Reginald Jr. Were going to stay and play video games while she went out to a local bar with her girlfriend.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Officer Muse interviewed that friend, who denied she and Salonia had plans that night. Reginald told police he suspected Salonia had a boyfriend and admitted he and his wife had personal differences. But Ward says the police found no evidence of an affair.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

Based on the research that I had conducted, her co workers, the people that knew her said that she just went to work and came home, that she was always seen with her little boy.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

The day after her body was found, investigators searched the family home on Apple Street.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

The chief of police said that when he went in, it smelled like bleach in the house.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Detectives looked for evidence that Salonia may have been killed there, but all they found was a freshly vacuumed carpet and the gold clasp of a necklace. Reginald gave investigators permission to interview little Reggie, the only other person in the home the night of the murder. In this police video, a detective questions Reggie as his father fidgets with a beanbag intended for his son.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Tell me what you remember about that night.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Reggie Jr. Became his father's alibi. The boy said he and his father played video games and then slept together in the same sofa bed. On that August night, did anybody come over?

[Detective/Police Officer]

Did anybody leave?

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Everybody stayed home that night. When little Reggie agrees that everybody stayed home, his father looks at him. Everybody. Everybody stay home.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

There.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

What? Don't be afraid. Just, you know, when she.

[Detective/Police Officer]

Don't be.

[Prosecutor Taylor Anthony]

Don't.

[Detective/Police Officer]

Don't be afraid.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

Just.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

We just talking.

[Officer Charles Muse]

She.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

She won't ask you just a few more questions. You.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

What's the matter, baby?

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

He said he didn't want to talk no more.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Oh, you don't want to talk no more?

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

Just emotional part of it.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Okay.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

That's a white model.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Didn't I tell you before that I'm your friend?

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Oh, he's here, baby.

[Detective/Police Officer]

Okay, darling.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

I won't talk no more. You don't have to. I just can't imagine what it's like as a six year old to have to sit there and

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

looking at that. It's still hard to believe that that's me. Watching that video just brings back so. So many questions and pain because I see me crying.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

In the aftermath of Salonia's murder, her family came forward with more information, Some of it directed at one of Reginald's friends, Jimmy Ray Barnes. Turns out Barnes smoked Winston cigarettes, the same brand found in Salonia's car. And Salonia's sister, Gwen Smith, said that Salonia did not like Jimmy Ray.

[Detective/Police Officer]

Apparently, she knew Jimmy Ray's voice. Cause she started screaming, come inside. I don't trust him. So she was scared of him.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

In the days after Salonia's murder, there was one name police kept hearing. Jimmy Ray Barnes, a friend of Reginald

[Lt. Barry Ward]

Sr. Jimmy Ray Barnes was an acquaintance of Reginald Reed. He hung out with him. He worked with him.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Lt. Ward learned about a disturbing incident at a local beach where Salonia was swimming with little Reggie just days before the murder.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

They were on inner tubes. Jimmy flipped Salonia over. She didn't feel that it was a playful thing. She felt that it was deliberate and intentional. She was not a good swimmer, and she said she struggled to make it

[Interviewer/Narrator]

to the bank the next night. Her sister Gwen said Salonia became frightened when a relative who was visiting Salonia spotted Jimmy Ray Barnes near her home,

[Detective/Police Officer]

and she said Salonia went into hysterics, like, no, no, don't go out there. Don't go out there.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

And within a few moments, Jimmy Ray Barnes walked around the corner of the house. Jimmy told her that he was checking on Salonia, and she ran him off.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Ward would learn that Jimmy Ray, along with Reginald, came under even more scrutiny. Two days after the murder, a witness came forward to say she had seen two men around John's Curb Market on the night Salonia was murdered.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

She became suspicious and later wrote down on a piece of scrap paper the license plate. As it turns out, that was the vehicle that Reginald Reed was known to operate in. That was his car.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Some two weeks later, police assembled this photo array and showed it to the witness.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

The witness identified the driver as Reginald Reed and the passenger as Jimmy Ray Barnes.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Jimmy Ray was given a polygraph test, and police at the time said he passed. But it wasn't long before Jimmy Ray left Hammond. Reginald denied having anything to do with Solonia's murder, but neighbors told police the marriage was trouble. Family members say Solonia had accused her husband of physical abuse, and there was talk of divorce. The police continued investigating, but prosecutors not never brought the case to a grand jury.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

There's a lot of circumstantial evidence in 1987 that pointed to Reginald Reed and Jimmy Ray Barnes. As far as a smoking gun, it was not there at that time.

[Detective/Police Officer]

I started feeling like nothing was going to be done about her murder and we would not get justice.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Time passed, and Reginald continued to live in Hammond. He even ran for mayor in 1998.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

Ariel Reggie Reed, number eight. You can count on me.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

He lost that race. But he and little Reggie stayed in the family home, which today has fallen into disrepair.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

So this is it.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

What's it like for you to just come back here? I know you don't like to, but what does it feel like?

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

I feel numb. Yeah, I feel numb. This is where it all started, you know? This is the halls I used to run. This is the TV room. This was the TV room.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

When you were playing Nintendo with your father the night that your mother was murdered. Was that here?

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

That was in this room.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Reggie went on to attend college and later got an mba. He moved out of Hammond and began working for a pharmaceutical company. There were no new developments on his mother's murder until 2011, when Lt. Barry Ward of the Louisiana State Police got involved.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

After I started interacting with Salonia's family, her sisters, I realized how important it

[Detective/Police Officer]

was Before Barry Ward came into the picture, I just felt like nobody cared about Salonia's case.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

This was just the last opportunity I felt, before more witnesses passed away, that we would have a chance to find justice for this terrible crime that happened to Sloania.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

As far as Ward could determine, the crucifix and screwdriver found within days of the murder led nowhere. But the detective was drawn to several life insurance policies Reginald had taken out on Salonia that paid out more than $700,000. Some of those policies were taken out the same month that Salonia was murdered. Ward wanted to reinterview Reggie Jr. In 2012, Reggie was 31 years old and living in Texas. Ward sent a Texas Ranger to begin the questioning.

[Reporter Vladimir Duthier]

He told me why he was here, and it was to discuss my mother's murder.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

And the Ranger then told Reggie something he said he'd never heard before.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

He was not aware that his father was a suspect in the murder of his mother.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

I was like, where is this coming from? Like, it's been over three decades, you talking about my dad, like, killed my mom? Like, seriously? I remember asking, is there any new evidence that will surface? And it was nothing new.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

It's true that the insurance policies had been discovered by the Original detectives, but Lt. Ward had organized them in a way that he felt was damning. The Texas Ranger asked Reggie about those policies.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

He showed me a graph, a timeline. They show these insurance policies that were taken out close to her death.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Did you all of a sudden say, I need to get to the bottom of this or what?

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

It was eye opening because I'm like, well, that doesn't look good. I gotta learn more. Like, what's all this?

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Reggie struggled to make sense of it all.

[Reporter Vladimir Duthier]

I did talk to my dad about it over the phone, and his response was he took out policies on everyone.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Reggie said he finds it hard to square what the investigation revealed with the loving father who raised him.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

I look back, I'm like, man, he really. He really did do some great stuff for me. He was a great provider.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Ward took a deep dive into the case file and focused on that Winston cigarette butt found in Salonia's car. He sent it out for DNA testing, something that was not widely available. In 1987, there was a match in the national crime DNA database, codis, but not to Jimmy Ray.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

It came back to a man by the name of Billy Ray Barnes.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Billy Ray was Jimmy Ray's identical twin brother. And the DNA supervisor had another surprise.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

He let me know that identical twins share identical DNA.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Lt. Ward decided he had to interview Jimmy Ray. And it turned out that Jimmy Ray had been holding on to some key information all these years.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

Jimmy Ray Barnes did tell me that Reginald reed offered him $50,000 to, quote, unquote, knock off his wife.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

In July 2012, Lt. Barry Ward went on the hunt for Jimmy Ray Barnes, who had become a prime suspect in the Celonia Reed murder case. After his DNA was linked to the crime scene, Ward found Barnes in the Atlanta area, where he said Barnes told him he'd fled Hammond because he was afraid of Reginald Reed. Barnes said back then he'd been shot at three times and hit once in the neck. Barnes suspected the shooter was Reginald but had no proof.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

Jimmy said he was known to carry a gun, but you fast forward 25 now, 30 years. Reginald Reed was now an old man.

[Prosecutor Taylor Anthony]

We are on.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Barnes was ready to talk about Reed without a lawyer.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

I ain't got nothing to hide.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Barnes told Ward that a few days before Salonia was killed, Reed asked him if he would, quote, knock off his wife.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

Reginald asked you if you would, quote, by your term, knock off his wife. And you took that to mean to kill her, to murder her?

[Jimmy Ray Barnes]

Right.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

What was your response to that?

[Jimmy Ray Barnes]

Hell, no.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

Did he discuss any money with you?

[Jimmy Ray Barnes]

Yeah, he discussed money.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Ward pressed Barnes to tell him how much money.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

More than 5,000?

[Jimmy Ray Barnes]

Yeah.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

More than 10,000?

[Jimmy Ray Barnes]

Yeah.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

More than 50,000.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

50,000.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

He offered you $50,000? Is that a guess, or is that the amount he offered?

[Jimmy Ray Barnes]

That's the amount he offered.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

But Barnes told Ward that he would not repeat the story in court.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

I don't trust the law no more.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Ward confronted Barnes about that polygraph test from the original case file. Barnes allegedly had passed that polygraph, but Ward suspected Jimmy Ray secretly had asked his identical two twin, Billy Ray, to take that test.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

I talked to Billy, and he said he took that polygraph test. And if Billy looked like you and was questioned over a murder that you took part in and he doesn't know anything about it, he's probably gonna pass that polygraph test. Would that be fair to say?

[Jimmy Ray Barnes]

I don't know. I'm not gonna answer that. Cause I know I'm the one who took the polygraph test.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Ward believed he had a solid case to finally bring charges. He had Jimmy Ray's DNA connected to the crime scene and his videotaped statement about reggie offering him $50,000 to kill Salonia. But Ward said prosecutors always wanted more.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

I would get phone calls through the years from prosecutors who had asked me to reinterview family members, find out additional information, test more evidence. It was busy work.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Then in 2018, a newly hired prosecutor, Taylor Anthony, got assigned the case. Why reopen a 35 year old case? What was the trigger?

[Prosecutor Taylor Anthony]

Well, why reopen it? It's an interesting question. This was a case to me right away when I looked at it, that there was a story to be told.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Anthony was impressed by all the investigative work done by Lieutenant Lieutenant Ward. So he reached out. But Ward told Anthony he was too busy and that he felt he'd been let down by other prosecutors.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

My initial response was to just get this guy off the phone.

[Prosecutor Taylor Anthony]

He said, look, I've already poured hundreds of man hours into that case, and y' all didn't do anything. And he said, you're wasting your time, kid. Have a nice life, basically.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

But Anthony was undeterred and promised Ward that this time things would be different.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

I think he saw what I saw. I think that made all the difference in the world.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Like Ward, Anthony was sure Jimmy Ray Barnes knew a lot more. So he and Ward took a road trip to Atlanta.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

We were able to locate Jimmy. He was staying in the camper at his employer's place. We pulled up early in the morning when the sun was coming up, and he was coming out of this camper putting a belt in his pants. And he said, hey, who y' all looking for? I said, you, Jimmy? And he goes, oh, you again.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

But this time, the new prosecutor had with him an agreement approved by a judge, giving Barnes complete immunity if he testified to everything he knew about Salonia's murder. So to the layperson, you offered him a deal.

[Prosecutor Taylor Anthony]

So I offered him what I would say would be the golden ticket.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

But Barnes rejected the offer.

[Prosecutor Taylor Anthony]

He did not trust me. He did not believe me. He did not want to talk to us.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Ward and Anthony were about to drive back to Louisiana when Barnes said something that took them by surprise.

[Prosecutor Taylor Anthony]

As Barry and I were getting back in the car, Jim Ray Barnes came over to us and he said, I want you boys to know that I'm the key to it all. And he said, if you think you can indict me for murder, then do it.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Anthony was quick to take him up on that challenge.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

A couple of weeks later, grand jury in tangible parish returned 2nd degree murder indictments for both Reginald Reed and Jimmy Ray Barnes. Immediately, we went to Reginald's home. I knocked on the door, identified who I was, and that I had an arrest warrant for him for the murder of his wife. He really had no emotion.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

The date was June 21, 2019. More than 30 years after Salonia's murder,

[Detective/Police Officer]

when Reginald was arrested, it was like. It was like a burden just got my chest. Like a burden was lifted off.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

I got a call that my father was indicted for second degree murder and conspiracy, along with a co defendant for my mother's murder.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Reggie Jr. Put up his father's $250,000 bail bond.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

My dad being my rock for so many years, I felt the need to try to help him.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Now that you are both adults, did you ever ask him those questions that you have that you're questioning even now as we sit here?

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

Yeah, I asked him. I asked him. And he maintains his innocence.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Sitting in another Hammond jail cell was Jimmy Ray Barnes. He now had a lawyer and asked to speak with Detective Barry Ward and Taylor Anthony.

[Prosecutor Taylor Anthony]

So Barry and I went and met with him again. In exchange for him telling us everything he knew, he was offered a deal to plead to accessory after the fact to murder and was given a five year prison sentence.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

The homicide trial of Reginald Rose Reid was scheduled for November 2022, and Jimmy Ray had agreed to testify. Reggie Jr. Hoped to hear never before reveal details of what had happened to his mother.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

I want to know what happened. Queen Carvania stood haloed by the morning sun. An army hung on her every word.

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[Defense Attorney William Simon]

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[Interviewer/Narrator]

In November 2022, the murder trial of Reginald Reed began in Amite, Louisiana. Reed was represented by the mother and daughter defense team of Vanessa Williams and Latoya Williams. Simon, what makes you think that he did not murder Salonia?

[Defense Attorney William Simon]

Their entire case is circumstantial.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

William Simon says the state's case was weak. There was no murder weapon, no fingerprints or DNA tying Reed to Salonia's homicide.

[Defense Attorney William Simon]

I was confused as to how they were really going to prove their case. There's no direct evidence,

[Interviewer/Narrator]

but prosecutor Taylor Anthony believed his prosecution would deliver justice to Salonia.

[Prosecutor Taylor Anthony]

The reason I became a prosecutor is to fight for people like this. I see a woman whose body's been desecrated, violated, mutilated, and nobody spoke up for her and fought for her. And there's a quote that I love, and it goes, the dead cannot cry out for justice. It is the duty of the living to do so for them. And that's my job.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Anthony told jurors about the $700,000 from the insurance policies on Salonia's life. So what was your theory once you put all these pieces together?

[Prosecutor Taylor Anthony]

My theory was that Salonia and Reginald were in a marriage that was about to come to an end. There was a history of abuse and that Salonia was tired of it and she was ready to leave. Reginald, I think he was angry and he saw an opportunity for some money. I think that's why he killed this woman.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

The case that they're presenting, which is this man takes out all these life insurance policies on a young, healthy, 26 year old woman. What is his rationale for having done that?

[Defense Attorney William Simon]

But they're missing the biggest part of it. It wasn't just on her, it was on himself. It was on the child. It was family policies. So it's not like he just went and took out policies on Salonia.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Only prosecutor Anthony was frank with jurors telling them that the state would not produce a murder weapon or the exact location where Solonia was stabbed. He focused on what the prosecution did have, including that white lotion found on Salonia's body.

[Prosecutor Taylor Anthony]

Later, police were able to find a bottle of lotion in the Reed household that matched that type of lotion that was on her body.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

The prosecutor also showed jurors a photograph of some scratches on Reed's neck taken on the day Salonia's body was found.

[Prosecutor Taylor Anthony]

They wanted to take photographs of his neck and he was very hesitant.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Anthony said. Reid told police two different stories about how he got those scratches. But after forensic testing, it was determined that none of Reed's DNA was found under Solonia's fingernails.

[Defense Attorney William Simon]

They believe that the killer is Mr. Reginald Reed. So anything that goes to contradict that, they're gonna completely block out.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

William Simon pointed to Jimmy Ray's long criminal record of arrest.

[Defense Attorney William Simon]

It couldn't be introduced at trial. And the reason why his criminal rap sheet couldn't be introduced at trial is because these aren't convictions.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

But William Simon says Jimmy Ray's arrests

[Defense Attorney William Simon]

were for violent crimes, false imprisonment and aggravated assaul. Aggravated battery with a dangerous weapon, murder. These are things that the jury had a right to know. But because of the law, they didn't find out.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Jimmy Ray Barnes ultimately took the stand as part of his plea agreement.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

Jimmie, will you please tell me.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

There were no cameras in the courtroom. So this recording is taken from Barnes police interview conducted by Ward before the trial. He told the same story when he testified on the night of the murder. Barnes said he promised to meet Reed in the parking area outside John's Curb Market, where Salonia's body had been found.

[Jimmy Ray Barnes]

When I got there, he was getting out of the blue car. The blue car was parked there.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Barnes said Reginald asked for his help in moving Salonia's body.

[Jimmy Ray Barnes]

I said no. I wasn't getting involved in that. He wanted me to move the body, and I didn't to want, and I didn't move the body.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Barnes says that Salonia was fully clothed when he saw her and sitting in the passenger seat.

[Jimmy Ray Barnes]

I did see the body in there, and I panicked.

[Prosecutor Taylor Anthony]

My understanding after the fact is that Jimmy Ray Barnes talked to Reggie and said, where's the money? You told me $50,000. He says he never got a penny of it.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Prosecutor Anthony contends that after the men drove away, Reed returned and staged the crime scene, stripping off Salonia's clothes, covering her with that white lotion, and leaving other evidence to make it appear as a sex crime. And what does your dad say to that?

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

He says, completely B.S. he says, it's no way we were at home playing Nintendo.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

William Simon had her own theory of what happened that night.

[Defense Attorney William Simon]

All of the information that we've received about Jimmy Ray Barnes is that he was borderline obsessed with Salonia. I believe that maybe he encountered her, tried to make a pacitor. That was rejected. And that's where you see that anger, that rage, that hatred.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Sitting through the trial, Reggie admitted that the relentless focus on his mother's murder was upsetting, especially as he watched that crime scene video, which he had never seen before.

[Reporter Vladimir Duthier]

And it really struck a chord by just seeing my mother there,

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

lifeless and just alone and dead.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Reginald Reed never took the stand. And after less than a week of testimony, the case went to the jury. Reggie Jr. Brace for the verdict.

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[Reporter Vladimir Duthier]

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[Interviewer/Narrator]

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[Prosecutor Taylor Anthony]

As a prosecutor, when the jury deliberates, it's painstaking. You're just waiting and waiting and waiting.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Some of Reginald Reed's brothers and sisters were waiting as well. Kennedy Reed, Belinda Reed Cox and Claude Reed. Claude, you don't believe your brother murdered Salonia?

[Lt. Barry Ward]

No, I don't.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

I don't believe Reggie did that. My brother is not a murderer.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

He's not. But on this day, November 18, 2022, Reginald Reed was found guilty of second degree murder after the jury deliberated for just over three hours.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

When he was found guilty. I feel like he died without dying. And I saw myself at that same 6 year old crying out for my dad, as I did in that video. And I just wanted to end.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Reggie tried to recapture the moment his father was found guilty in his book.

[Reporter Vladimir Duthier]

My father grabbed me up into a big hug. I wanted to stay there forever. He pulled back for a moment, looked me in the eyes and kissed me on the forehead. We embraced once more and then they took him away from me.

[Prosecutor Taylor Anthony]

I wanted to tell him, I'm sorry for the loss of your mother. I'm sorry for your father going to prison. I can't even imagine the grieving process that he's going through.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Reggie says sitting through the trial was excruciating. But when it was over, he still wanted answers.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

This is my parents room.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Lt. Ward has told you that one of his theories is that your mother may have been killed in this room.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

In this room. I just go back thinking of the manner and the way which she was killed. If she was killed here, how is it possible that they couldn't find anything? Where was I? Did you leave the house after I fell asleep?

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Questions Reggie cannot answer because he simply cannot remember. On January 30, 2023, everyone piled back into the same courtroom where Reginald Reed was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He did not offer any kind of explanation or statement and said nothing.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

You know, I want justice, but I didn't think justice was going to come at the price of my dad going to prison for life.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

So my question is, do you believe that your father murdered your mother?

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

I don't know. Another question. Do I think my dad had some involvement? Maybe. I don't know though. I don't know. So that's where I'm just. It's like a tug of war game

[Reporter Vladimir Duthier]

just knowing the type of father he is. I can't just turn a page and just look at my father as a complete monster.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Celonia's sister, Gwen Smith, always believed Reginald was Celonia's killer. Although she and Reggie Jr are estranged, she still worries about him.

[Detective/Police Officer]

I just kind of felt bad for him, you know, because his mom was taken away from him when he was a little boy.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

What do you want people to know about this case? If you could sum it up for

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

me, I know one thing. My brother did not commit this murder.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

For Barry Ward, who worked on the Salonia Reed case for a decade, the conviction was just and he appreciates that. Jimmy Ray Barnes agreed to testify.

[Lt. Barry Ward]

Jimmy Ray Barnes was the king.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Barnes served his sentence for being an accessory after the fact to murder. He was freed from prison, and Shortly after, on January 27, 2024, he was killed in a car accident. He was in Hammond to attend the funeral of his identical tw.

[Officer Charles Muse]

There are several cases throughout my career that stick out to me, and this is probably the main one.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Charles Muse, the Hammond police officer who found Salonia's body, is pleased he got to see the outcome of the case.

[Officer Charles Muse]

I mean, her death, you know, didn't just go in vain. I find some peace in that.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

You say that you wish you would have gotten to know her better, but then you realize, too, you must, that she's living through you, that she's here because you're here.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

Absolutely. And I think about that she's in a place where she's consistently watching over me.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

As for Reggie's father, he calls Reggie from a Louisiana state prison once or twice a week. This call is not private. It will be recorded and may be monitored.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

Hey, Reg. Hey, how you doing, man? Good. How are you?

[Interviewer/Narrator]

A 48 hours producer was present during a recent call.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Do you think you got a fair trial?

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

No, of course not. Of course not. What? No evidence?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

What do you got to tell us about your son?

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

Oh, remarkable. I thank the Lord for him every day that he was able to understand some things that was going on, but that I would never leave him.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

These days, Reggie has his own family. His son Lathan is nearly the age he was when Celonia was killed. And they often play games, just as Reggie did with his father. And in January 2024, Reggie and his wife Paula were blessed with a baby girl.

[Reggie Reed Jr.]

When our daughter was born, we both agreed there's no other name that we should name her except Saloni. You know, give that name an opportunity to live life and be recognized in a positive way.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

It's beautiful. In may 2025, an appeal for reginald reed sr. Was denied.