Father shot and killed man who complimented his son at New Orleans barbershop

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In a new sign of how an offhand comment can have fatal consequences in New Orleans, police say the father of a two-year-old boy getting a trim at a barbershop shot and killed a customer who complimented the toddler.

Witnesses told police Harold Brooks, 37, had visited the shop, in the 5700 block of Crowder Boulevard, in the past while carrying a gun, investigators wrote in documents filed in Criminal District Court. On March 17, they said, Brooks "became irate" when Kenneth Smith, 56, complimented his son there.

Surveillance video shows Smith leaving the business, soon followed by Brooks and his son in a Jeep Cherokee, according to the documents. The Cherokee slowed next to Smith, walking in the 7000 block of Crowder, where police say he was fatally shot.

The next day, a tipster told police the killer lived in the Willowbrook Apartments on Bundy Road, about 1¼ miles from the barbershop, according to the documents. Investigators found the Cherokee there on March 19 and traced it to the toddler's mother. Police said Brooks' drivers license photo matched the man seen in video leaving the barbershop after Smith.

Brooks' defense attorney would not comment Thursday.

Magistrate Commissioner Peter Hamilton set Brooks' bail to $500,000.

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