Man suspected in 5 killings, including girlfriend, parents, caught by police
An “armed and dangerous” 21-year-old man from Louisiana who allegedly fatally shot his parents, girlfriend, her father and her brother was captured Sunday morning outside his grandmother’s house in Virginia, authorities said.
Dakota Theriot was wanted on multiple counts of first-degree murder, home invasion and weapons charges stemming from a killing spree that began in Livingston Parish, Louisiana — just east of the state capital, Baton Rouge — and continued at his parents’ trailer in Ascension Parish.’
Theriot was arrested about 8 a.m. in Richmond County, Virginia, more than 1,000 miles from where he allegedly went on the killing rampage, Ascension Parish Sheriff Bobby Webre and Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard said in a joint statement.
“You could tell he was sleep deprived. He just had been up for so long,” said Richmond County Sheriff Steve Smith told ABC affiliate station WRIC-TV in Richmond.
Smith said his agency was alerted that Theriot had family ties in Richmond County. While deputies were checking the homes of Theriot’s family members, his grandmother called and directed them to her house in Warsaw, Virginia, Smith said.
He said that during the manhunt for Theriot, his grandmother stayed in a hotel because she feared the suspect would show up on her doorstep.
“She called this morning looking for officers to go by [her house] and make sure it was safe to go into,” Smith told ABC affiliate station WRIC-TV in Richmond. “While the officers were there, [Theriot] actually drove by, drove up into the driveway at that time, had a pistol in his hand [and] he had it out the window.”
He said deputies took cover and ordered Theriot to drop the gun. The suspect complied and was arrested without incident, Smith said.
He was booked at the Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw and was being held without bail pending an extradition hearing, Smith said.
Authorities said deputies arrived at Theriot’s parents’ home in Livingston Parish on Saturday in time to interview his dying father, who identified his son as the shooter.
Sheriff Webre said during a press conference that a 911 dispatcher received a call around 8:45 a.m. about the two shootings, the victims of which were Theriot’s father, Keith Theriot, 51, and his wife Elizabeth Theriot, 51.
Shortly after the first call, the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office received a call at 9 a.m. about a homicide involving multiple victims. Those victims, according to a Facebook post from the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office, were Billy Ernest, 44, and two of his children — Summer Ernest, 21, and Tanner Ernest, 18.
Summer Ernest had recently started dating Theriot, according to her relatives.
Webre called the first incident a case of domestic violence and said that Dakota Theriot was recently asked to leave the residence and not return.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had anything of this magnitude when it comes to domestic violence,” Webre said during the news conference. “We don’t know the relationship between the father, the mother and the son at this time.”
