A woman arrested in Mississippi as an accomplice in the death of a kidnapped 4-year-old girl has been charged with capital murder.
Victoria Cox, 32, was arrested at the OYO Hotel in south Jackson Friday morning, a day following Daniel Callihan’s apprehension after he allegedly killed Callie Brunett in Loranger, Louisiana, and fled with her two children, as CrimeOnline reported.
It’s not known what charges Callihan, who is being held in Rankin County, Mississippi, will face, beyond murder in both Louisiana and Mississippi, or which state will bring him to trial first. Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Daniel Edwards told NOLA.com, however, that he thinks whatever charges Callihan faces, he deserves the death penalty.
Callihan apparently agreed, telling reporters as he was loaded into a transport van in Mississippi that “lethal injection is the easiest thing for me,” WDSU reported.
“I did it. I have no reason for what I did,” Callihan said. “I am diagnosed multiple personality disorder. I think it was the side effects of the Lexapro.”
Callihan said he wasn’t “pretending to be crazy.”
“I am certified,” he said. “I have only been out of the nut house for two weeks.”
Cox has been charged in connection with the death of Erin Brunett, Callie Brunett’s youngest daughter, Mississippi authorities said.
US Marshals chased Callihan down Thursday afternoon, and he then led them to Erin’s body in a wooded area nearby. He also led them to 6-year-old Jalie Brunett, who was found alive but injured in her mother’s car, stolen by Callihan.
Investigators have not described Jalie’s injuries, but she was taken to a Jackson hospital, where her grandparents met her and returned with her to Louisiana, WAPT reported.
Meanwhile, the FBI has opened an investigation into the entire incident, which began Wednesday when Callie Brunett’s parents reported her and the children missing. The next day, Brunett’s father broke into her mobile home in Loranger and found her body in a bloody scene in the bedroom. Three hours later, state police issued an Amber Alert for Erin and Jalie.
License plate readers picked up Brunett’s missing car in Mississippi, and US Marshals took Callihan into custody in Jackson late Friday afternoon. Investigators have not speculated publicly about a motive for the murder and kidnapping, but they believe Brunett and Callihan may have dated at some point in the past.
Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade said it appeared Callihan killed the 4-year-old as police were closing in and that he would have killed the older girl as well.
Cox’s role, and her relationship with Callihan, are not fully known either, Wade said.
“We’re still trying to determine her exact role,” he said. “She will be held accountable for her actions and her role in this horrific event that happened that spanned from Tangipahoa to South Jackson.”
Wade also initially speculated that there may have been human trafficking going on at the location where Callihan was arrested, citing small animal cages at the scene. But he has not commented about that speculation since, and no other law enforcement has commented on it.
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[Featured image: Jalie and Erin Brunett/Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office and Callie Brunett/Facebook]
