Jeff Davis 8

The Jeff Davis 8, sometimes called the Jennings 8 or Jennings 8 girls, refers to a series of unsolved murders in Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana. Between 2005 and 2009, the bodies of eight women were found in swamps and canals surrounding Jennings, Louisiana. Most of the bodies were found in a state of decomposition, making the cause of death difficult to determine.

Murders Victims The first victim, Loretta Lewis, 28, was found floating in a river by a fisherman on May 20, 2005. The final body, that of Necole Guillory, 26, was found off Interstate 10 in 2009.

Causes of death Patterson and Brown had their throats slit; the other bodies were in too advanced state of decomposition to determine the cause of death, though asphyxia is a suspected cause of death. Most of the victims knew each other well.

In 2009, the sheriff ordered that every investigator working the Jeff Davis 8 case be swabbed for DNA in response to the accusations against investigators.

Byron Chad Jones and Lawrence Nixon (a cousin of the fifth victim, Laconia Brown) were briefly charged with second-degree murder in the Ernestine Patterson case.

A 2012 episode of the series Dark Minds, in which show host M. William Phelps visited the area and interviewed several people connected to the case.

The 2016 book Murder in the Bayou: Who Killed the Women Known as the Jeff Davis 8? by author Ethan Brown.

Part of the "True Crime Tuesday" series in 2018 on The Dr. Oz Show

The 2019 two-part Investigation Discovery documentary series Death in the Bayou.

The 2019 five-part series Murder in the Bayou on the Showtime network.

A 2021 two-part podcast on The Casual Criminalist.

Despite speculation, the Jeff Davis 8 cases were not the inspiration for the first season of the HBO series True Detective, according to creator Nic Pizzolatto in the series’ DVD commentary.