New Orleans woman booked with murder killed partner over life insurance, police say

An Orleans Parish magistrate found probable cause last week to charge a woman accused of killing her boyfriend in order to cash in on his $1 million life insurance policy.

Commissioner Jonathan Friedman kept 37-year-old Kyana Traylor's bail at $500,000 at a preliminary hearing on July 8, during which New Orleans detective Michael Haynes testified about the evidence he gathered against Traylor earlier this year.

Haynes secured a warrant to arrest Traylor in February, and authorities booked her with second-degree murder in late March. In an affidavit for her arrest, police wrote that they found 32-year-old Robert Singleton shot dead in his motorhome in the 1900 block of Jourdan Avenue on Feb. 11. A neighbor had called police and told them Singleton had possibly been shot by a girlfriend he had been "having problems with."

Police initially considered the case an unclassified death, but gunshot wounds found on Singleton's body changed his manner of death, according to the affidavit, authored by Haynes. Police determined Singleton had been dead for several hours — if not over a day. After removing his body, New Orleans police searched the property and found two cell phones, some mail and a purse. Inside the purse, there were items belonging to Traylor.

A 2015 silver Chevrolet Camaro on the property was also in Traylor's name. Inside the Camaro, detectives found legal paperwork giving Traylor power of attorney over Singleton's mother, including her bank accounts, according to the affidavit.

New Orleans police and Orleans Parish Coroner's office personnel were leaving the scene when Traylor arrived in a black GMC Yukon. Because Traylor was already wanted on a count of domestic abuse battery charge against her daughter, police arrested her there, court records show. Police found a cellphone in Traylor's possession, and with a warrant, detectives learned she called and texted Singleton less than two hours before police say he was killed.

Crime camera footage from the same day tracked Traylor's vehicle from Bunker Hill Boulevard to the motorhome. Video footage from a home nearby showed Traylor getting out of her car and going into the motorhome. The footage showed her leaving less than an hour later. Singleton's best friend told police that Traylor was also the only other person with a key to the property.

Singleton's life insurance company also contacted detectives, telling them that Traylor was the beneficiary in a $1 million life insurance policy she had on Singleton. The insurance company said Traylor asked them not to disclose the policy to law enforcement.