Suspect says he killed Louisiana mother and toddler: “There was no reason for my actions”

A sheriff’s office in Louisiana confirmed Newsweek on Sunday evening that one of the suspects in connection with the murder of a mother and her three-year-old daughter last week had confessed to the “brutal and heinous acts of violence”.

The victims were identified as Callie Brunett, a 35-year-old mother from Loranger, Louisiana, and her 3-year-old daughter, Erin. Brunett’s 6-year-old daughter, Jalie, was also abducted and injured but survived the ordeal, according to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office (TPSO).

Erin and Jalie were abducted from their home in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, where their mother was found “brutally murdered” on June 13, TPSO said. Hours later and more than 100 miles away in Jackson, Mississippi, authorities discovered the 3-year-old girl’s body, shortly before arresting a suspect who TPSO said had been with the mother “on and off” for more than a year.

Jimmy Travis, TPSO Operations Manager, said Newsweek In a phone interview Sunday evening, the suspect, 36-year-old Daniel Callihan, “confessed to everything.” Travis said the surviving 6-year-old victim confirmed the details of what happened.

“They did the forensic interview of the six-year-old, and the suspect’s statements were corroborated by the interview with the girl. So he’s not one of those guys who says all these things just to shock consciousness,” Travis said. “He’s pretty much admitting what happened. As horrible as what he says happened and what he did, he did it. They did it — he and his accomplice did these horrible things.”

At the time of publication, it was unclear whether Callihan had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

While authorities did not say how the mother and toddler were killed, Travis described a disturbing crime scene at the Brunetts’ Louisiana home. He said Newsweek that he felt the brutality of the crime and the knowledge that the victim had missing children should have triggered an Amber Alert immediately. However, Travis said the alert was not sent out for more than three hours due to “protocol” and the paperwork required.

“By 9:30 a.m. we knew this was a brutal murder of a mother, her car was missing and her three and six-year-old daughters were missing,” Travis said. “I was on the scene the morning the mother was found and I thought to myself, ‘We need to start blowing up cell phones now.’ Waiting for hours is unacceptable given the nature of what happened and what we knew.”

He said the alert was issued around 2:30 p.m. in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi and was “key” to locating the little girls and the suspect.

“When the Amber Alert finally went out, we got all kinds of tips from people who had seen the little girls,” he said. “The Amber Alert allowed us to find the car, the suspect, the surviving girl and the dead child. All of this was done through information we received through the Amber Alert. If it had gone out sooner, who knows what would have happened.”

Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade identified the second suspect as Victoria Cox, a 32-year-old acquaintance of Callihan. She was arrested at a South Jackson hotel on June 13 as part of a “joint operation” involving several law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and Jackson police.

Wade said during a press conference that investigators found evidence of possible human trafficking at the location where the children were found, including “small animal cages.”

According to Jackson police, Callihan and Cox are both charged with felony sexual assault.

While Callihan was being taken to jail, he spoke briefly with reporters and confessed to the crimes in a video broadcast Friday by local station WDSU.

“I did it,” he said. “I have no reason for what I did.”

Callihan said he was sober at the time of the crime and did not intend to contest the charges against him: “For what I did, lethal injection is the easiest option for me.”