Baker to serve life plus 105 years for slaying

A Shreveport man who shot and killed an acquaintance in 2023, then drove the victim's car to Texas, was sentenced to life plus more than a century in prison for the crimes Thursday, November 5, 2026.

District Judge Donald E. Hathaway Jr. sentenced Kenavion Marquis Baker, 29, for the July 5, 2023 slaying of Terry Morris, 20. Armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon rounded out the list of Baker's crimes.

Baker received the state-mandated life-at-hard-labor term for the slaying, plus 90 years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or reduction of sentence for the armed robbery, plus 15 years at hard labor, also without benefit on the firearm conviction, all to be served consecutively. 

Morris and a friend, Kaleb Washington, went to Baker's house in north Shreveport, where Baker was to work on Morris's car. Shortly after arriving, without provocation, Baker shot Morris in the head with a firearm he was not legally allowed to possess due to a prior felony conviction for aggravated flight from an officer. Then at gunpoint, he robbed Washington of his phone. Washington pleaded for his life, which was overheard by a person on the other end of a phone call with Morris. Baker then ordered Washington to retrieve a blanket to wrap the body in and to help him load the body into Morris’s car. 

After driving Washington home, Baker fled in Morris's car to Natchitoches. Investigators traced the car through the cell phone, and Baker led authorities on a high-speed pursuit to San Augustine, Texas, where he wrecked the car and fled into a wooded area and was arrested the next day. The wrecked car still held Morris's body, and the gun used in the shooting was located nearby.

Baker was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Courtney N. Ray and Stephen Folk-Cruthirds. He was represented by the Public Defenders office.

The case was docket No. 396253.

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