NEW ORLEANS — Authorities say a man used a hammer to fatally bludgeon his girlfriend and two sleeping children in their suburban New Orleans apartment.
Two other children remain hospitalized following the Wednesday morning attack in Terrytown. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto identified the suspect Thursday as 33-year-old Terrance Leonard of Gretna.
Thrity-two-year-old Kristina Riley, her 10-year-old son, Ayden Riley, and her niece, 9-year-old De’ryona Encalade (deh-ree-OWN’-yah AHN’-kah-laid) were all killed. Riley’s other daughters, ages 14 and 12, were critically wounded. Leonard was arrested Wednesday on charges that include first-degree murder.
Lopinto says investigators believe the children were attacked as they slept while Kristina Riley was out with her mother. Lopinto says Leonard, who lived at the apartment, told investigators he waited for Kristina Riley to come home and then killed her.
The Associated Press
