LAPLACE NURSE'S KILLING SHOCKS FAMILY

Woman Shot Buying Cocaine, Police Say

After struggling with a crack cocaine addiction for two years, LaPlace
resident Carol Hunt completed a 30-day rehabilitation program last summer
in an attempt to kick the drug habit, members of her family said. But on
Monday afternoon, they learned that not only had she apparently started
using cocaine again, but that she had been fatally shot while police say
she was trying to buy drugs in the LaPlace Oaks Housing complex.

"She went to (counseling) every single day," Hunt's daughter Natalie Ryan
Simsick said Tuesday. "I thought she was doing very well. I was so proud of
her."

Hunt, who had worked for more than 24 years as a licensed practical nurse
in emergency rooms in the New Orleans area, most recently at Kenner
Regional Medical Center, was found behind the wheel of her 1980 black
Datsun 280. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives with the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff's Office think Hunt
was in the complex to buy drugs.

Based on their investigation, authorities determined the shooting was
drug-related, but on Tuesday they wouldn't reveal what evidence led to that
conclusion.

Authorities don't know what led to the shooting and because of the ongoing
investigation would not reveal how many times Hunt was shot or where she
was struck.

No arrests were made Tuesday.

"We are working on it," said Capt. Mike Tregre, a spokesman for the
Sheriff's Office. "We have been working on it consistently since it
happened. We are pursuing leads."

The shooting took place shortly before 5 p.m. After the shooting, Hunt's
car rolled from the street into a nearby yard and came to rest next to one
of the apartment buildings.

The incident shook residents of the LaPlace Oaks housing complex who have
complained for weeks about frequent gunfire in the community.

Monday's shooting was the second such incident in the LaPlace Oaks complex
this year but the first murder in the development in 2002.

The shooting shocked Hunt's friends and family. They described her as a
gentle woman who they thought had overcome her drug addiction.

Two years ago Hunt became addicted to crack cocaine after being introduced
to the drug by a friend, Simsick said. However, Hunt never went to work
while under the influence and her problem never attracted violence, Simsick
said.

"She was well known as a nurse," she said. "She was loving and caring. She
tried to help people out in any possible way she could."

She had worked at Kenner Regional Medical Center for 10 years, Simsick said.

On Monday afternoon Hunt told a friend that she was going to buy a pack of
cigarettes. An hour later they learned about the shooting, her daughter said.

"I broke down and started shaking," Simsick said. "She was a great person.
For someone to do something like this just kills me."

On Tuesday, Simsick and mourners gathered at Hunt's home in LaPlace to
remember her. They choked back tears as they spoke of Hunt and wondered
what could have led to the shooting.

"I'm hoping that the police don't drop this case, and if there are
witnesses out there, that they will come forward," Simsick said. "I hope
the police will start cracking down back there."

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sheriff's Office at (985)
652-2773.