Louisiana Thanksgiving Murder-Suicide: David Mata Killed Wife And Children, Police Say
A Louisiana Thanksgiving murder-suicide was discovered by the 18-year-old daughter of one of the victims when she returned home from a hunting trip. David Mata reportedly killed his wife, Kelli Mata, and the couple’s two toddler sons in their Marrero home.
David Mata, 46, and Kelli Mata, 40, were found dead in the living room by Kelli’s daughter on Sunday morning. The 18-year-old girl then found the bodies of her two half-brothers, Liam Mata, 2, and Caden Mata, 4, in their bedrooms. Marrero, a middle-class neighborhood, is commonly referred to as “cop land” by locals due to all of the law enforcement officers who live in the area. Marrero is a suburb of New Orleans.
New post: ” Mother, father and two sons aged two and four found stabbed to death in their home after apparent mur… https://t.co/dFUFdsL7Wb
— Lee Levy (@thekingleelevy) November 29, 2015
Kelli Mata’s daughter ran out of the home after making the gruesome discovery and called 911, the Daily Mail reports. The name of the teenage girl has not been released to the public.
Sheriff Normand says 40yo Kelli Mata and two sons ages 2 and 4 found stabbed to death. 46 yo David Mata also dead. pic.twitter.com/ZTnzwuAE1w
— Antwan Harris WWL-TV (@antwanharris) November 29, 2015
According to Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand, David Mata fatally stabbed his wife and their sons during the morning hours before 11 a.m., the Times-Picayune notes. During an interview with WWLTV, sheriff’s office representative Colonel John Fortunato said there had been no history of violence at the Mata home.
A straight blade knife was reportedly found beneath David Mata’s body. It has not yet been made clear how Mata killed himself during the Louisiana murder-suicide, but Colonel Fortunato told the media that Mata has “suffered stab wounds.”
David Mata, a native of Spain, worked at a car dealership as a mechanic. He and Kelli Mata married in the spring of 2012. Neighbors and friends expressed their disbelief and shock that Mata would kill his family and then himself when talking to the media. He was largely described as a good guy who was well-liked.
According to legal records, Mata pleaded guilty to assaulting Kelli in 2010 before the couple lived together. David was reportedly given a suspended sentence and a $540 fine in lieu of a one-year prison sentence. In 2002, David Mata pleaded guilty to the possession of 1,000 steroids pills after they were found inside his home during a sting operation. A judge handed down a three-year probation sentence in the case.
Mata was married once before starting a family with Kelli Fabre Mata. A judge refused to grant a divorce in 2010 when his then wife alleged he had deserted her and was living with Kelli. The divorce was ultimately granted in 2012.
The Mata family had lived at the Marrero address for only six months before the murder-suicide.
“I didn’t think he would do something like that. He was such a good person,” a friend of Kelli Mata’s 18-year-old daughter told local reporters. “He was happy with her [Kelli].”
The friend and the daughter were reportedly both seniors at Fisher Middle-High School in Jean Lafitte. The friend also said that Kelli Mata also has another daughter.
[Images via Facebook]
