A Louisiana man is accused of driving for hours across state lines with his wife’s body in the passenger seat after allegedly killing her, according to police.
Tyronne Brazille, 50, was taken into custody in Memphis, Tennessee, on Thursday after officers found the body of his wife, Lanessa Bradford, inside his vehicle during a traffic stop.
Authorities said Brazille had driven more than five hours from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, before he was pulled over and officers determined Bradford had been fatally shot.
The couple, who had been married for many years, had allegedly argued before the grim discovery, WREG reported.
Shelicka Decker, a longtime friend of Bradford, said the elementary school employee had been making plans in the weeks before her death to leave her husband.
‘She had the money saved up. She had come up with a plan, and she was going to just vanish. That was the only way she would be able to get away from him,’ Decker said.
‘She was going to leave her car, she was going to leave all the things behind, and she had been in touch with her family that was out of town, and that’s how she was going to make this move to get away.’
Decker also told the outlet that the marriage had been under strain and that Brazille had struggled with mental health issues.
Bradford, pictured, worked at an elementary school in Baton Rouge. The school requested a welfare check at her home after she failed to show up to work for a few days
Tyronne Brazille, 50, was arrested after he allegedly drove from Baton Rouge to Memphis with his wife’s corpse in the passenger seat after the pair had an argument
Shelicka Decker, a longtime friend seen left, said that the couple had been married for years but Bradford, right, had been planning to leave Brazille, who suffered from mental health issues
‘He never put his hands on her up until recently, like maybe two or three months ago,’ she said.
According to Decker, Brazille had previously threatened to end his life if Bradford tried to leave him.
Investigators discovered they had been at the Independence Community Park in Baton Rouge before Bradford was killed.
Police told WREG that Brazille fled the area after allegedly killing his wife and drove through several states until he was finally stopped in Memphis due to a traffic violation.
After hearing the news of how Bradford was found, her friend Decker told the outlet: ‘Where was his mind at during that ride?
‘Like, it’s so crazy. It’s so crazy and heartbreaking.’
The elementary school where Bradford worked requested a welfare check at her home after she failed to show up to work for a few days, the outlet reported.
‘It’s such an unfortunate situation, like everybody, she was such a good person. Everybody, she uplifted a lot of people, a lot of parents,’ Decker told the outlet.
‘My prayers are with her family and friends as well as his, because we were all friends. We all, you know, hung around each other, and this is just not the same person that we grew up with.’
Lanessa Bradford, 50, was found dead from a gunshot wound in the passenger seat of her husband’s car hours from her Louisiana home during a traffic stop in Memphis
Brazille was arrested in Memphis as a fugitive and is set to appear in court on Monday.
He currently awaits extradition to Louisiana where he will face a murder charge over his wife’s death, according to WREG.
The Daily Mail reached out to the Baton Rouge and Memphis police departments for comment.
