The Crime Ledger: September 14, 2026

Houma: Four Dead on Ashland Drive

Kaegan Jude Solet, 47, of Houma, is expected to face four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder after a Saturday-night stabbing spree on the 200 block of Ashland Drive left four people dead and a young boy fighting for his life.

Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies answered the call about 7:40 p.m. Sept. 12. Two victims were dead in a house; two more were found in a camper out back. A boy under 10, later identified by relatives as Letha Verret’s six-year-old grandson, had been stabbed and beaten, ran to a neighbour for help, and was flown out critical but stable. Family advocate Brandon Thiel named the dead as Verna Mae Verdin, her daughter Letha Verret, her son Paul Verret, and Paul’s girlfriend Krissy Lynn Parfait. Relatives say Solet fathered a child with one of the victims. Investigators call the attack targeted. Solet was taken Sunday near the scene with injuries tied to the fight and remains in a medical facility pending booking. On Monday the Terrebonne Parish District Attorney’s Office acknowledged Solet walked on a 2019 second-degree murder no-bill and a 2023 attempted-murder acquittal, then reserved Oct. 27 for grand jury. He is presumed innocent.

San Benito: No Bond in Road 819 Quadruple Killing

Christian Joel Maldonado Pacheco, a 25-year-old Honduran national, was denied bond Monday after Cameron County charged him with capital murder of multiple persons and three counts of endangering or abandoning a child.

Sheriff Manuel Treviño’s office says four relatives (ages reported as 50, 29, 28, and 67; names withheld at the family’s request) were found with gunshot wounds about 3 a.m. Sunday in the 32000 block of Road 819 south of San Benito. Three were inside the house; one was on the roadside. At arraignment, Maldonado Pacheco asked to represent himself. The judge denied bond as a safety and flight risk and appointed counsel anyway. He is presumed innocent.

The victims have been named as Donaciano Guzman Vargas, Gustavo Guzman Grajales, Maria Ester Armayrany Moreno Sanchez and Leticia Vargas Fernandez. Court records say the suspect called 911 while the fourth victim was being attacked, KRGV reports. Investigators are still looking for a motive. He is presumed innocent.

Paju: Cafe Freezer Death Sent to Prosecutors

Paju police on Monday referred a 39-year-old cafe owner, identified only as A, to prosecutors in custody on a murder charge after a woman in her 60s died of hypothermia inside a −18°C cold-storage unit.

Investigators say A lured the woman into the cafe freezer on Sept. 3, padlocked it from outside, and left her confined about 27 hours. Counterfeit gift certificates with a face value of roughly ₩50 billion were found with her body. Police tell Seoul Economic Daily and Chosun that A had the freezer installed in advance while trying to cash the fakes, then panicked when exposure loomed. A admits confinement and denies intent to kill. A gift-certificate broker remains under investigation for counterfeit securities; police say they have found no accomplice in the death. A is presumed innocent.

Update, Oct. 11, 2026: Prosecutors indicted A on Oct. 1 on charges of murder of a person lured to the scene and forging securities. They allege the killing was planned: A had prepared a deal involving about 50 billion won in forged gift certificates and asked for an older person to be sent to check them, then held the woman in the freezer for about 27 hours, aiming to collect billions of won in penalty money from the failed deal, Nocut News and Weekly Chosun report. A is presumed innocent.

Beit Shemesh: Aggravated Murder Charge in Pool Attack

Israeli state prosecutors on Monday charged Liel Ifergan, 26, in Jerusalem District Court with aggravated murder in the Aug. 17 stabbing of seven-year-old Hillel Mordechai Dadon and attempted murder of Dadon’s four-year-old cousin.

The indictment says Ifergan ran from a neighbouring housing unit with a knife about 4:38 p.m., entered a family yard where the children were playing in an inflatable pool, stabbed Dadon once in the chest and the cousin once in the neck, then fled and cleaned the blade. Dadon’s chest wound damaged a lung and the sac around his heart. The cousin underwent surgery and spent three days hospitalised. Prosecutors asked that Ifergan stay in custody through trial. No motive is pleaded. Dadon’s father, Amos, said the family wants justice without more turmoil. Ifergan is presumed innocent.

The indictment alleges he stabbed Hillel in the chest and his cousin in the neck, then went back and cleaned the knife, Israel National News and The Jerusalem Post report. Charges are aggravated murder, attempted murder and aggravated grievous bodily harm, and prosecutors asked that he stay in custody until the end of proceedings. He is presumed innocent.

Lake Charles: Mother Guilty After I-10 Abandonment

A Calcasieu Parish jury on Monday convicted Aaliyah Jack, 28, of second-degree murder in the July 2024 drowning death of her four-year-old son, Legend, and cruelty to juveniles for abandoning his then one-year-old brother, Kingtrail, along Interstate 10 near the Vinton welcome centre.

Prosecutors say Jack left both boys without food, water, or shelter as Hurricane Beryl approached after a Houston trip. Legend’s body was found in shallow water July 8. A trucker rescued Kingtrail the next day, mosquito-bitten and dehydrated but alive. Jurors heard a jail call in which Jack told her mother she had hurt her own kids. Judge Michael Canaday set sentencing for Nov. 5. Second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence in Louisiana. Jack is presumed innocent of any remaining counts and retains appeal rights.

Update, Oct. 11, 2026: Sentencing is set for Nov. 5 before Judge Michael Canaday. Second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence in Louisiana, KPLC reports.

Commerce: Life Terms in Toddler Starvation Case

U.S. District Judge John D. Russell on Monday sentenced Daniel Allen Ash, 34, and Amber Dawn Murphy, 32, a Cherokee Nation member, to life in federal prison for second-degree murder in Indian Country and four counts of child neglect after their two-year-old son died severely malnourished in September 2024.

Prosecutors said the toddler weighed about 17 pounds and was so dehydrated that medics could not collect a urine sample. On the day he collapsed, Ash allegedly kept all four children in a vehicle without air conditioning for two hours while he updated a gaming console, then drove to Murphy’s workplace instead of going straight to a hospital. The home was found cluttered with trash, feces, spoiled food, and rodent activity; a 10-year-old had been the primary caregiver. U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Nassar called it suffering no child should endure. Both remain in custody pending Bureau of Prisons placement.

Prosecutors said the boy weighed about 17 pounds when he died, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reports.

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