Background: Daniel Callihan (WWLTV/YouTube). Inset top: Erin Brunett (Amber Alert). Inset bottom: Callie Brunett (Facebook).
A 38-year-old man in Louisiana will spend the rest of his days in prison for killing a 35-year-old mother in her mobile home, then kidnapping her two young daughters, one of whom he killed.
U.S. District Judge Lance Africk on Wednesday ordered Daniel Callihan to serve life in a federal prison for the slayings of Callie Brunett and her 4-year-old daughter Erin Brunett, records show. Callihan in August formally pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping resulting in death and one count of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Victoria Cox, his girlfriend and alleged co-conspirator in the kidnappings and killings, has been indicted on a capital murder charge in Mississippi, where she may still face the death penalty.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, the case came to light in June 2024, when Callie Brunett was found dead in her locked mobile home in Loranger, about an hour north of New Orleans, a day after she was reported missing. The victim suffered more than 50 stab wounds to her head, neck, chest, abdomen, and back. She lived in the home with her two young daughters, 4-year-old Erin and her 6-year-old sister, both of whom were missing.
Prosecutors said Callihan, on the night of June 12, 2024, killed Brunett and kidnapped both girls in Brunett's car, driving to pick up Cox, then crossing state lines and bringing the victims to a residence in the 3900 block of Boozier Drive in Jackson, Mississippi. Callihan and Brunett had previously dated, authorities said.
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Prosecutors said Callihan and Cox "engaged in sexual battery" with Brunett's 6-year-old daughter. Callihan then "purposely suffocated [Erin] to death by holding [her] closely against his chest," prosecutors said in a news release. Following his arrest, Callihan confessed to murdering Brunett and Erin as well as sexually battering Erin's sister.
Authorities discovered Erin's body in a wooded area near the Mississippi home on July 13, 2024. Her sister was found alive nearby and transported to the hospital for treatment.
The crime scene where the children were found was possibly linked to human trafficking, the Louisiana-based Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office and Mississippi-based Jackson Police Department said at the time.
"We see cages, small animal cages," Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade said. "This is very, very disturbing to me as a police chief and as a father to witness and see what I saw."
After his arrest in Mississippi, Callihan confessed to reporters with cameras rolling as he was being escorted in handcuffs and a yellow jail jumpsuit. He gave no reason for the bloodshed and asked to die by lethal injection.
"Unfortunately, on Lexapro, sober, no drugs in my system, I did," he said to reporters when asked about the girl's killing. "I have no reason for what I did. All I want to say is that I was sober and only on Lexapro — and off Lexapro — and I'm also diagnosed with borderline multiple personality disorder."
"For what I did, lethal injection is the easiest thing for me," he added as he sat in the back of a police vehicle.