Daniel Callihan, right, in yellow jumpsuit, faces charges in the deaths of Callie Brunett, bottom inset, and her daughter, Erin, top inset. (Callihan screenshot from WWLTV/YouTube; Erin’s photo from Amber Alert; Callie Brunett’s photo from Facebook)
A couple has been charged in the murders of a mother found stabbed in her Louisiana mobile home and her 4-year-old daughter, whose body was found suffocated in the woods across state lines in Mississippi at a suspected human trafficking site.
Daniel Callihan, 36, faces two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Callie Brunett, 35, and her daughter, Erin, announced Scott Perrilloux, the 21st Judicial District Attorney, in a news conference.
The defendant also faces kidnapping charges for the abduction of Erin and her 6-year-old sister – who was found alive at the suspected trafficking site. Callihan’s girlfriend, Victoria Cox, 32, faces a charge of first-degree murder and kidnapping charges. She also faces a charge of being an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder, Perrilloux said.
The case came to light last week when Callie Brunett’s father found her dead in her locked mobile home in Loranger, Louisiana, about an hour north of New Orleans, a day after she was reported missing. The victim suffered stab wounds to her head, neck, chest, abdomen and back, local CBS and The CW affiliate WJTV reported.
An Amber Alert was issued hours after Callie was found, Law&Crime reported. Her father reported the children were gone, as was his daughter’s black 2012 Chrysler 200.
When a license plate reader tracked down the car, the search for the missing girls led multiple federal and local agencies across state lines into Mississippi, where Erin was found suffocated in the woods behind a residence in Jackson. Her 6-year-old sister was found nearby. The older girl was hospitalized and turned over to her grandparents.
The crime scene where the children were found is possibly linked to human trafficking, the Louisiana-based Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office and Mississippi-based Jackson Police Department have said.
“We see cages, small animal cages,” said Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade. “This is very, very disturbing to me as a police chief and as a father to witness and see what I saw.”
Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Daniel Edwards said Callihan used to date Callie Brunett.
After his arrest in Mississippi, Callihan confessed to reporters with cameras rolling as he was being escorted in a yellow jail jumpsuit and handcuffs in custody. He gave no reason for the killings and asked to die by lethal injection.
“Unfortunately, on Lexapro, sober, no drugs in my system, I did,” he said to reporters. “I have no reason for what I did. All I want to say is that I was sober and only on Lexapro — and off Lexapro — and I’m also diagnosed with borderline multiple personality disorder.”
“For what I did, lethal injection is the easiest thing for me,” he added as he sat in the back of a police vehicle.
Callihan’s sister told local CBS affiliate WWLTV that her brother had a troubled past.
“My brother’s been in and out of boys’ homes because of his actions,” she told the station through tears. “He’s always been deceitful. He’s always been a manipulator.”
Cox’s public defender argued the two girls were alive when his client last saw them, local Fox affiliate WVUE reported.
Law&Crime’s Matt Naham contributed to this report.
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