La. man pleads guilty to kidnapping 2 children, killing 1 after allegedly fatally stabbing mother

TANGIPAHOA PARISH, La. (TCN) -- A 37-year-old man recently pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the kidnapping of two children after he allegedly stabbed the girls’ mother.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Daniel Callihan pleaded guilty to kidnapping resulting in death and transporting a minor in interstate commerce with intent to engage in criminal sexual violation. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 19 and faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison for kidnapping resulting in death. If the court accepts his plea, the government will not seek the death penalty.

On or about June 12, 2024, Callihan allegedly stabbed a woman, identified by the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office as Callie Brunett, more than 50 times. Following her death, prosecutors said Callihan kidnapped Brunett’s two children, 4-year-old Erin Brunett and 6-year-old Jalie Brunett, and drove them to Mississippi in their mother’s vehicle. According to authorities, the defendant then went back to Louisiana to pick up a co-conspirator before he drove to a home in Jackson, Mississippi.

Around June 12, 2024, or early on June 13, 2024, Callihan and the co-conspirator reportedly sexually battered the 6-year-old girl. Prosecutors said the defendant intended that the 6-year-old "would engage in criminal sexual activity."

According to the attorney’s office, on June 13, 2024, while in Mississippi, Callihan "purposely" held the 4-year-old child closely against his chest and fatally suffocated her. Callie Brunett’s body was found later that day. Investigators discovered a pit on the Mississippi property, where they located the 4-year-old girl’s body and the 6-year-old child.

Prosecutors said Callihan confessed to fatally stabbing Brunett and kidnapping her children. He also reportedly admitted that he and a co-conspirator brought the girls to Mississippi, where they committed sexual battery on the older child, and the defendant fatally smothered the younger daughter.

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