LIVINGSTON, La. — A 21-year-old man who is accused of killing his girlfriend, her father and her brother at their home in Livingston Parish and then his parents at their home in Ascension Parish has been arrested.
The Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office reported Sunday morning that 21-year-old Dakota Theriot was found in Richmond County, Virginia.
According to the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office, Theriot was believed to have family ties in Virginia. Richmond County deputies were notified and began checking places Theriot was known to frequent. During the search, Richmond County deputies received a request from a family member of Theriot's to check a home before their return in the 14000 block of Historyland Highway.
According to the Associated Press, the family member was Theriot's grandmother, who stayed in a hotel Saturday night because she was afraid he would show up at her home.
When deputies were on scene Sunday morning, Theriot arrived in a vehicle with a gun pointed out the window, the sheriff's office says. The deputies sought cover and challenged Theriot, who then dropped the gun upon deputies' commands and was taken into custody.
Theriot was taken to the Northern Neck Regional Jail and is currently being held without bond pending a court appearance.
Both of the deadly shootings in Livingston and Ascension parishes occurred before 10 a.m. Saturday.
Police were searching for Theriot, who was believed to be driving a pickup truck that belonged to his girlfriend’s father. Authorities said he was ‘armed and dangerous’ and was in possession of at least one gun at the time.
“We have indications that he is traveling east of this area,” said Ascension Parish Sheriff Bobby Webre on Saturday. “He may be in another state.”
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Law enforcement believes that Theriot started the rampage at his girlfriend’s Livingston Parish home, where he had recently been living, by killing his girlfriend Summer Ernest, 20; her father Billy Ernest, 43, and her brother Tanner Ernest, 17.
Two young children were also at the home but were physically unharmed and ran to a neighbor’s house to report that family members had been shot.
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5 killed in multi-parish crime spree
It is then believed that Theriot stole a pickup belonging to Billy Ernest and went to the home of his parents – Keith and Elizabeth Theriot in the 42000 block of Churchpoint Road in Gonzales - and shot them both. Keith Theriot, who was still alive when first responders arrived, apparently identified his son as the shooter.
Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard and Ascension Parish Sheriff Webre said at a late night press conference Saturday that Dakota Theriot was “not on their radar" prior to the killings.
“There were no red flags,” said Ard. “We don’t have a motive.”
According to court records, Theriot was arrested and charged with second degree battery in Jefferson Parish in November of 2017.
Watch a joint press conference between Livingston and Ascension parish sheriffs' offices below:
The Advocate newspaper said neighbors of the Theriots reported several recent shouting matches at the home. Webre said Dakota Theriot was recently booted out.
"He lived there with the mom and dad for a little while but was recently asked to leave with some disagreements," Webre said. "But no idea why he would do anything like this."
DeYoung, Billy Ernest’s sister, said in an interview with the Associated Press that she believes Theriot had just begun to date her niece.
“My family met him last weekend at a birthday party and didn’t get good vibes from him,” DeYoung told the AP.
She said she wasn’t sure how her niece and Theriot met, but that she believed the relationship was relatively new.
“My mom is a good judge of character and she just thought he was not good,” DeYoung said of Theriot.
Theriot appears to have a Facebook page filled with defensive and sometimes angry posts.
A Facebook page that appears to belong to Theriot shared a post in June saying "wish i could clear my mind jus for one day" (sic) with a sad face emoji.
In May, he shared a post saying "If you have a problem with me, tell me. Not everyone else."
Another shared post says, "I don't care what people say about me I know who I am and I don't have to prove anything to anyone."
Stay with Eyewitness News on WWL-TV and WWLTV.com for more on this ongoing report.