File photo of Dakota Theriot.
Authorities say they have obtained a confession from 21-year-old Dakota Theriot, the south Louisiana man accused of killing his parents in Ascension Parish and then three others in Livingston Parish during Saturday shooting spree. Livingston Sheriff Jason Ard says Theriot is cooperating with detectives.
“He has confessed to the weapon that we recovered, which is a handgun, it was the weapon he actually used to kill the victims,” said Ard. “He did tell us that he got the weapon by stealing it from his father.”
Ard says they believe Theriot was living with the Ernest family in a trailer outside of Walker for about two weeks, because he was kicked out of his parents home in Gonzales.
Investigators say Theriot’s violent rampage started Saturday morning when he killed his girlfriend 20-year-old Summer Ernest, her brother and father, with a single gunshot wound to the head. Theriot allegedly stole a pickup truck belonging to one of the victim’s, 43-year-old Billy Ernest and drove to Gonzales to kill his parents.
“As far as why this happened that motive is still unclear,” said Ascension Sheriff Bobby Webre. “We don’t know if we will ever have a motive exactly.”
Theriot was arrested Sunday morning in Virginia in the driveway of his grandmother’s home. He’s currently in the Richmond County, Virginia jail and an extradition hearing is set for Friday morning.
Theriot faces five counts of first-degree murder when he returns to Louisiana. Webre says the suspected killer is eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
“We know what happened here, he killed five people, so this is a monster,” said Webre. “If our district attorney moves forward with a first-degree murder case, we would not be opposed to that.”
