Residents of a suburb in Louisiana were left in shock after the body of a six-year-old girl was found in a ten-gallon chlorine bucket on her mother’s lawn and a suspect was arrested.
According to police, Bella Fontenelle’s body was discovered on Wednesday morning in Harahan. A medical examiner reported that the child had suffered numerous injuries and that the cause of death was manual strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head.
The suspect was identified as 43-year-old Hannah Landon and she was apprehended at her father’s house, where she resides. The girl’s father had reportedly gone to the police station to report that his daughter and girlfriend missing.
Law enforcement officers searched his house and then went to the home of the girl’s biological mother, which was nearby. Landon has been charged with first-degree murder and obstruction of justice, and on Thursday a judge ruled that she would be held without bail.
Both the mother and father of the victim were questioned, and the police stated that they believed neither of them were involved in the murder. Footage from a neighbor’s Ring door camera seemed to depict a woman dragging a cart with the bucket towards the home.
Harahan Chief of Police Edward Lepre attempted to bring some comfort to citizens in a Facebook post regarding the terrible incident. He said, “We are shocked by the senseless killing of a child in our community and we give our deepest sympathies to the family during this excruciatingly difficult time. As Chief of Police, I want to assure you that Harahan is a great and safe city.”