The medical doctor accused of being an accessory to manslaughter in a weird and gut-wrenching killing in Jefferson Parish is now being sought by New Orleans police as a “person of interest” in another high-profile murder.
The NOPD said it is searching for Dr. Kerry Sterling, 49, in connection with the tragic shooting of 9-year-old Lee’Lani Brooks, who was taken off life support over the weekend after being struck by a stray bullet during a gunfight that broke out in broad daylight.
Evans Rogers, 20, and Devante Traylor, 22, were arrested on May 12 after a gun battle on Lawrence Drive in Algiers. Gunshots erupted, striking Brooks in the head as she pushed her younger sibling to safety.
Rogers was apprehended by the NOPD and US Marshals while hiding out in a LaQuinta Inn hotel room near Terrytown. Following the pronounced death of Lee’Lani, authorities arrested Rogers and Traylor on heightened charges of second-degree murder.
Sterling is currently being sought by detectives for his involvement in the case; however, the NOPD has not specified his position or link.
Sterling is already facing significant charges in Jefferson Parish after allegedly attempting to remove his sister’s court-ordered electronic ankle bracelet while she was awaiting trial in a manslaughter case.
Sterling is accused of attempting to carry out an elaborate conspiracy to take the bracelet from his sister, Kyana Traylor, 37, who was being watched as part of her $650,000 bail for manslaughter charges.
Authorities accuse Traylor of killing a mentally handicapped man by allowing him to bleed to death. Authorities alleged Traylor did not call for help after George Singleton, 32, cut himself seriously while attempting to open a can with a knife in 2023.
A Jefferson Parish investigator previously testified that Traylor molested Singleton for months while staying at the family’s home near Terrytown. Traylor is charged with manslaughter, obstruction of justice, insurance fraud, and cruelty to the elderly for allegedly abusing Singleton’s mother, who is 61 years old.
Traylor and Sterling were the subjects of an in-depth WWL Louisiana article that revealed an elaborate conspiracy in which she is suspected of faking a stroke to have her ankle bracelet removed.
According to court documents and witnesses, Sterling pretended to be Traylor’s doctor at University Medical Center to persuade the electronic monitoring business to remove the ankle band as soon as possible.
When as soon as you get the chance and Traylor’s bail bond company became suspicious, the sister and brother fled the hospital, only to be apprehended in the Bywater neighborhood shortly later. Sterling was allegedly captured in the act of attempting to cut off the bracelet while Traylor was stretched across the seat of an automobile.
The police arrested Traylor immediately. Sterling fled but was apprehended days later on March 14 while making rounds at Madison Parish Hospital in Tallulah, Louisiana, according to the Jefferson Parish
Sheriff’s office. Sterling previously operated a family medicine clinic in New Orleans.
Detectives from the New Orleans Police Department are now searching for him.
Anyone with information on Sterling’s location is asked to call NOPD’s Homicide Unit at (504) 658-5300 or Crimestoppers anonymously at (504) 822-1111.
