Four adults — a grandmother, her daughter, the daughter’s son and his girlfriend — were found stabbed to death at a Houma, Louisiana, home. A six-year-old grandson was critically injured but escaped and alerted a neighbor. A 47-year-old man, Kaegan Jude Solet, was detained in connection with the case; he has prior links to alleged 2019 stabbings but no convictions related to those incidents. The community has raised more than $46,500 for funeral and medical costs as investigators continue their probe.
Four Family Members Killed in Houma Stabbing; 6-Year-Old Critically Wounded, Suspect Detained
Letha Verret, Paul Verret and Verna Mae Verdin.Photograph: GoFundMe
Four members of a family were found stabbed to death at a home in Houma, Louisiana, on Saturday, and a six-year-old boy related to the family was critically injured but escaped and sought help from a neighbor, relatives and local officials said.
Relatives and a family advocate identified the deceased as Verna Mae Verdin; her daughter, Letha Verrett; Letha’s son, Paul Verret; and Paul’s girlfriend, Krissy Lynn Parfait. Authorities have not yet publicly released official identifications, but said they had detained a 47-year-old man, Kaegan Jude Solet, in connection with the killings.
The wounded child — reported to be Verdin’s six-year-old grandson — ran to a neighbor’s home, which led deputies from the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office to the residence, where they discovered the four adults dead nearby, officials said.
"He is a full-of-energy, smiling child that is the light of so many of the family’s world," family advocate Brandon Thiel told WVUE. "Thankfully, he was able to make it out. They are processing a lot right now."
Thiel, who organized an online fundraiser to help with funeral and medical expenses, said the campaign had raised more than $46,500 by Monday morning. He also said Verdin had worked at Walmart for 20 years and planned to retire in two weeks; Letha Verrett was a mother of seven, including three minors. WVUE reported that Paul Verret and Krissy Parfait had been living in a camper behind Verrett and Verdin’s home.
Law enforcement cautioned that the investigation is ongoing. Officials described the occupant detained as being held "in connection with" the case; he has not been convicted in relation to this incident.
Local reporting and court records indicate the man detained in the Houma case has previously been linked to other violent incidents. WVUE reported that he was tried and acquitted on attempted-murder charges in a December 2019 hotel stabbing. Local news site HoumaToday.com also reported he was booked in January 2019 in connection with the fatal stabbing of an unhoused man, Scott Lovell; Lovell’s mother later told WVUE that a grand jury declined to indict.
Context and Community Response
Advocates and public-health officials have long warned about intimate-partner violence in Louisiana. About two years ago the Louisiana Department of Health described intimate-partner violence as a "significant public health concern," and the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence has noted the state’s rate of women killed by men has historically exceeded the national average. National statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that more than half of female homicide victims in the United States are killed by current or former male intimate partners.
Tracking by The Guardian indicated the Houma killings were at least the 19th mass murder reported nationwide this year. (A mass murder is commonly defined as an incident in which four or more people are killed.) Most mass murders in the U.S. are carried out with firearms, though this incident involved stabbings.
Authorities continue to investigate and have asked anyone with information to contact the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office. Officials also emphasized that details could change as the probe continues.
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