Tangipahoa Parish grand jury indicts Daniel Callihan, Victoria Cox on murder, kidnapping charges
By Erin Lowrey
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TANGIPAHOA PARISH, Louisiana (WDSU) — A grand jury has indicted a Louisiana man and woman accused of murdering a Loranger mother and child.
Daniel Callihan and Victoria Cox are accused of murdering Callie Brunett and her daughter Erin, as well as kidnapping Brunett’s other daughter, Jalie.
Callihan was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated kidnapping, and one count of second-degree kidnapping.
Cox was indicted on one count of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated kidnapping, one count of second-degree kidnapping, and one count of accessory after the fact of first-degree murder.
Tangipahoa Parish District Attorney Scott Perilloux said he is in discussion with the family, but would not announce whether or not his office will seek the death penalty against Callihan and Cox.
Authorities in Mississippi are also investigating the incident, and the Hinds County District Attorney said last week he is still considering charges for his jurisdiction.
Callihan and Cox were booked on sexual battery and capital murder charges in Jackson.
Perilloux said he is seeking for the case to be tried in Tangipahoa Parish first since that is where the crimes originated.
According to Perrilloux, he hopes that Callihan and Cox will be extradited back to Louisiana soon to be arraigned.
Both are currently being detained in Mississippi.
The search for two missing Louisiana children ended tragically Thursday afternoon in Jackson, Mississippi.
The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office was notified by U.S. Marshals in Mississippi that they arrested Callihan in Jackson, Mississippi, in connection with a homicide, and a statewide Amber Alert was issued Thursday.
An Amber Alert had been issued for the children of Callie Brunett, who was found dead in a trailer Thursday morning in Loranger.
Her two children — Jalie Brunett, 6, and Erin Brunett, 3 — were missing.
After Callihan was arrested, a Jackson Police Department officer found Erin’s body in the area of McCluer Road, near Boozier Drive.
Jackson police Chief Joseph Wade said Jalie was found alive a few feet away. Wade said Jalie was taken to a hospital to receive treatment for unknown injuries. U.S. Marshals confirmed that the girl’s grandparents picked her up and returned her to Louisiana.
Funeral arraignments: Services for Callie Brunett, 35, and Erin Brunett, 4, will be on Thursday, June 20, at Harry McKneely & Son Funeral Home and Crematory in Hammond.
Visitation is from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m., and the funeral will begin right after at 1:30 p.m.
Criminal History Revealed: Court records from Tangipahoa Parish show that since 2008, Callihan has been arrested eight times in the parish.
The charges date back to 2008 and range from various felony crimes such as burglary, theft, aggravated battery, simple burglary and simple assault.
Court records show that in 2009, he pleaded guilty to felony simple burglary.
Callihan was sentenced to 12 years in jail but was suspended as long as he followed probation.
In 2014, he violated the terms of that probation and was ordered to serve five years of the original sentence imposed and received drug rehabilitation treatment while in jail.
If Callihan had served the entire five years in jail, he would have been released in 2019.
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