Grisly Murder-Suicide Leaves Louisiana Family Dead

Two children and their parents were found dead this morning in Marrero, Louisiana, after what authorities are calling an apparent murder-suicide.

The New York Daily News reports that an 18-year-old female walked into her family home on Sunday, around 11:00 a.m., and found her parents, David Mata, 46, and Kelli Fabre Mata, 40, dead in the family living room. The mother reportedly died from stab wounds. The teen immediately called 911 and the Jefferson Parish sheriff’s office dispatched officers to the family home, located in the Oak Forest subdivision, off of Brandi Street.

The teen had just returned home from a hunting trip when she discovered her parents, but she ran outside for help for checking the bedrooms of her two younger half-siblings, Caden Mata, 4, and Liam Mata, 2, both of whom were found dead in their rooms later that afternoon when authorities arrived. According to the Jefferson Parish police, the young boys had been fatally stabbed to death.

NOLA reports that the spokesperson for the Jefferson Parish police, Col. John Fortunato, said that it looked like David Mata stabbed his family to death, then took his own life, although the officer is unsure of exactly how he killed himself. He also confirmed that authorities found the couple’s two sons in their bedrooms.

“A 4-year-old old and a 2-year-old had been stabbed to death. The mom had been stabbed to death. At the present time we’re not sure of the cause of death of the father.”

A friend of the family’s 18-year-old daughter expressed shock at what happened, stating that the father seemed happy with his family and that he was always a “good person.”

“I didn’t think he would do something like that. He was such a good person.”

The couple married in 2012 and moved to the Oak Forest home this year. According to their landlord, Jason Bordelon, they always paid rent on time and never caused any trouble.

“They always paid their rent on time. Picture-perfect family.”

Yet, court records indicate otherwise. In 2010, David was charged and pleaded guilty to physically assaulting Kelli, and in 2011, he was charged with writing $700 worth of bad checks. Although he pleaded not guilty to the worthless check charge, he paid off the balance in full.

Problems for David started well before the couple married. In 2002, authorities found 1,000 anabolic steroid tablets in his home during a sting operation. He later pleaded guilty to the charges and was placed on three years of probation.

Despite his troubled past, neighbors stated that David seemed normal and happy. One of the family’s neighbors, a 14-year-old who used to cut their grass, the Matas were always smiling and never seemed to argue.

“I just talked to him on Thanksgiving. I mean, he seemed like he was doing perfectly fine. They were fun. I never saw them argue, really, just minor disagreements. But once you hear this, you’ve got to take that to a whole ‘nother level.”

Another neighbor, 56-year-old Alexander Herbert, also remembered that the family seemed quiet and happy, although he never talked to them.

“I’d just seen them from passing. But it looked like it was a complete family to me.”

Investigators are still working on figuring out a motive for the reported murder-suicide while a crime tape remains wrapped around the yard and the inside of the suburban home. Meanwhile, the Oak Forest Community Association held a prayer vigil for the Mata family today at 4:45 p.m., led by Pastor Kenneth Antoine.

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