ST. TAMMANY PARISH, LA. (THECOUNT) — Jesse Waddell was killed Sunday afternoon after losing control of his motorcycle on Louisiana Highway 40 in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, according to the Louisiana State Police.
Waddell was a resident of Mandeville, Louisiana, located approximately 30 miles southeast of the crash scene in the northern reaches of St. Tammany Parish. He was 31.
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The fatal single-vehicle crash occurred at approximately 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 15, 2026, on LA 40 near Mary Ellen Drive in the northern portion of St. Tammany Parish.
According to Louisiana State Police, Waddell was riding a 2026 Honda CBR600RR westbound on LA 40 at a high rate of speed when the motorcycle approached a curve. For reasons still under investigation, Waddell failed to negotiate the curve and ran off the right side of the roadway. He was ejected from the motorcycle and struck a tree. Waddell was wearing a DOT-approved helmet at the time of the crash. He was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
Louisiana State Police collected a routine toxicology sample as part of the ongoing investigation. The crash remains under investigation.
Family members confirmed Waddell’s passing on social media. His sister, Jeanée Waddell Kopecky, asked for prayers, writing that the family had suffered an unimaginable loss and that her brother had been called home.
Jesse’s wife, Yuri Sisson Waddell, shared a heartbreaking post on Facebook, “I dreamt you came back to life.”
Louisiana Highway 40 is a two-lane rural state highway that runs approximately 53 miles in an east-west direction across northern Tangipahoa and St. Tammany parishes, connecting communities from Livingston Parish in the west to the unincorporated community of Bush in the east. The highway passes through the village of Folsom and traverses largely rural terrain characterized by pine forests, rolling hills, and winding curves.
St. Tammany Parish is located on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, directly across from the New Orleans metropolitan area. The parish encompasses communities including Mandeville, Covington, Slidell, Abita Springs, Madisonville, Folsom, and Pearl River, and has experienced significant population growth over the past two decades as residents have relocated from the greater New Orleans area. The parish is bordered by Washington Parish to the north, Tangipahoa Parish to the west, and the Pearl River — which forms the Louisiana-Mississippi state line — to the east.
Mandeville, where Waddell resided, is a lakefront city of approximately 13,000 residents situated along the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. It is connected to the New Orleans metro area via the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, the longest continuous bridge over water in the world at nearly 24 miles in length.
Approximate crash scene location — LA 40 near Mary Ellen Drive, northern St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana: View on Google Maps (approximate location; exact crash coordinates have not been officially specified by officials)
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