Chef gunned down while picking up son outside New Orleans daycare

A beloved New Orleans chef was shot and killed while waiting to pick up his two-year-old son from daycare by a carjacker who then dumped his body and sped away in his car.

Carl Morgan, a sous chef at the famed Brennan’s restaurant in the French Quarter, was ambushed outside the Abeona House Child Discovery Center in Mid-City on Tuesday evening.

The suspect, identified as 21-year-old Raymond Wells, was later tracked to Interstate 10 in Metairie, where officers found him inside Morgan’s vehicle with a gunshot wound to the head.

‘Mr. Wells is currently in extremely grave condition at University Hospital,’ Deputy Chief Nicholas Gernon said at a press conference, according to Fox 8. ‘Overnight, our detectives were able to secure an arrest warrant for one count of first-degree murder.’

Authorities told the New York Post that Wells had been cruising the neighborhood earlier, firing at cars and attempting other carjackings before killing Morgan.

Witnesses recalled a chaotic scene outside the daycare as shots rang out.

‘I just saw a guy walking right there – he just started unloading his gun,’ local resident Luke Gower told WDSU.

‘I don’t think he even knew the person. He just aimed at the car and started shooting at it. His gun jammed, according to the homeowner. There I was – the next car in line – so I just feel lucky, I guess.’

Carl Morgan, 45, a sous chef at Brennan’s Restaurant in the French Quarter, was shot and killed while waiting to pick up his young son from daycare

Brennan’s Restaurant, where Morgan worked as a sous chef, will honor him this weekend at the Fried Chicken Festival by serving his signature fried chicken sandwich

The shooting sent daycare teachers scrambling to protect children.

‘What happened was one of the teachers heard the gunfire on Bienville and said ‘let’s get inside,’ and they immediately moved all the children inside,’ Pastor Shawn Anglim of First Grace United Methodist Church told Fox 8.

Morgan’s death has devastated his loved ones, who described him as a devoted father and a talented chef whose life revolved around his child.

‘What was most important was his son and how much of a dad he was,’ Brennan’s General Manager Christian Pendleton told Fox 8.

‘He was the biggest teddy bear. He was just the happiest dad – so tickled to be a dad. He loved moments with his son. He was a huge Raiders fan.’

Morgan’s partner and the mother of his child, Lisa Marie Lienberger, told WDSU: ‘I just want people to remember Carl for how much he cared about everyone he interacted with. He was a very loving person.

‘A jolly, talkative, very funny, and silly person. Most of all, he loved food, and that was what we really bonded over.

‘I hope that he will be remembered for all of the skills he passed on to other people he worked with in the city. We love him very much, and I will do my best to make sure he’s remembered in everything we do. I wish he was here.’

Morgan’s partner, Lisa Marie Lienberger, said she will do everything she can to keep his memory alive for their 2-year-old son

Pendleton said Brennan’s will honor Morgan at this weekend’s Fried Chicken Festival, where he had been preparing to lead the restaurant’s offerings.

‘When he made his fried chicken sandwich, people looked forward to it. We’ll do that for him,’ Pendleton told WDSU.

‘A man lost his life. A child lost his father. A partner lost her love of her life, and we all lost a vibrant light in the city of New Orleans,’ Anglim told Fox 8.