A 1-year-old baby and a 10-year-old boy were among three victims killed in a home massacre in Louisiana.
The two children, as well as a 40-year-old woman, were found “stabbed to death” when police responded to “a domestic disturbance call” at a home in Amite at around 4:39 p.m. local time on Thursday, Jan, 9, the St. Helena Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Ryant Jones, 31, was named as the suspect. He was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder.
“This was a horrible tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims’ family,” the sheriff’s office said.
The victims were later identified as Rhonda Powell, her son Braylon and her nephew Hayden, according to a GoFundMe page that was created by Powell’s cousin Deondra Warner.
Warner said on the fundraising page that Jones is a family member with “a documented history of schizophrenia” and claimed he was “experiencing a mental health episode” at the time of the attacks.
“Just the day before, he had been brought to a medical center for help and was prescribed new medication. Sadly, the support he needed came too late to prevent this heartbreaking outcome,” she wrote.
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Warner told WAFB that family had taken in Jones after doctors refused to commit him at their request after he showed “signs of aggression.”
“She pleaded with or implored that the doctor give him the shot which usually works. Instead, the doctor gives him a pill,” she told the outlet.
“No one in that home survived because the mental health system failed him,” Warner continued. “Had he been committed, he would be where he needed to be today, and my other family members would be alive.”
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