TERRYTOWN, La. —
JPSO forensics teams worked into the night Wednesday, gathering evidence, taking away a pink teddy bear from the brutal crime scene inside.
“I just can’t believe somebody would do something like that, to a child! It’s horrible,” neighbor Melinda Farmer said.
It’s a murder many in the community are still trying to grasp.
“For something like this to happen, you now, so tragic,” Cynthia Bingham said.
Sheriff Joseph Lopinto announced that a man is now in custody for the triple homicide in Terrytown.
“This was obviously not only a gruesome scene, but a big scene that needed to be processed all day,” Lopinto said.
He wouldn’t release many details until the autopsy is finished, but says the victims were beaten to death.
“The autopsy will be done tomorrow, so this preliminary, but we believe it’s all through blunt force trauma,” Lopinto said.
JPSO deputies were called to the home on the 900 block of Monterey Court around 7:00 am. They entered the home and found a woman and two children dead. Two other victims, who are children, were transported to the hospital and are in critical condition.
Sheriff Lopinto did not release the name of the suspect or his relation to the victims, but did say that the man confessed.
"This person has confessed to the crime. We are still working this investigation at this point,” Sheriff Lopinto said.
Emmett Rhodes is the children’s grandfather. He told Eyewitness news that the children were 8, 9 and 10 years old.
JPSO would not confirm the ages of the victims, but the coroner’s office says the children who died were eight and ten years old. The woman who died was 35-years-old.
“We all had a laughing, good time yesterday. We went to the parade, and came home. They gave me a hug and everybody went home. And this what I wake up to. My grandkids and my daughter and them gone,” Rhodes said.
Those in the neighborhood say they’d watch the kids play outside, now, this devastating crime has left everyone in this tight-knit neighborhood wondering why.
“Those little kids touched the whole heart of all of the kids around here because everybody looked up to those kids because their grandfather and them were like riding their bikes or the horses and they draw attention you know,” Cynthia Bingham said.
“She did really good by her kids! She was always with her kids. And it’s horrible,” Farmer added.
“I just want justice done. To whoever done it to them. Cause it’s said,” Terrytown resident Sally Duval said.
Sheriff Joseph Lopinto is expected to give more information on the murders during a press conference Thursday afternoon. WWL-TV will carry the press conference live on WWLTV.com and the WWLTV app.