A Louisiana man has been charged with killing four family members in an alleged stabbing rampage that also left a 6-year-old boy critically injured. Despite suffering multiple stab wounds, the child managed to run for help.
Kaegan Jude Solet, 47, was arrested in connection with the deadly attack in Houma, Louisiana, on Saturday evening after being released from the hospital Tuesday, according to the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Solet is accused of killing Verna Mae Verdin, her children Letha Verret and Paul Verret, and Paul’s partner, Krissy Lynn Parfait. The victims were found at a home on the 200 block of Ashland Drive, about 63 miles from New Orleans in the heart of Louisiana’s bayou country, according to relative Brandon Thiel’s GoFundMe post.
Thiel told WVUE that Solet was known to the family and had fathered one of the victims’ children.
Police captured Solet at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday after an hours-long manhunt and took him to a hospital for treatment.
After his release Tuesday, Solet was booked on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder, the sheriff’s office said.
In a photograph released by officials, Solet is seen wearing blue scrubs and bright yellow footwear, with his left arm in a cast as officers escorted him.
Verdin, a great-grandmother who was just two weeks from retiring from her job in the Walmart bakery, lived in the main house with her daughter Letha. Paul and Parfait were staying in a camper in the backyard, WVUE reported.
The 6-year-old boy had been spending the night with his grandmother, Letha, and great-grandmother when he was attacked by the knife-wielding assailant. He suffered multiple stab wounds.
Despite his injuries, the child made his way to nearby neighbors to seek help.
“He knew he was injured and he was just worried about making sure someone knew his family was in trouble,” Thiel told the outlet.
Officers found the boy near the home before discovering the scene, where all four adult victims were pronounced dead.
The child, who has been hailed as a “superhero,” was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition. He remained hospitalized as of Wednesday.
“Please pray for my little man as he recovers. He’s so, so strong and such a fighter. Current status (he’s stable),” the boy’s father wrote in a Facebook update, thanking people for their support.
Letha is survived by seven children—four adults and three minors.
“This devastating tragedy has left the Verret family facing an unimaginable amount of grief, uncertainty, and hardship,” Thiel wrote on the fundraiser. “The loss is especially profound for Letha’s minor children, who are now having to cope with the sudden loss of their mother, grandmother, and uncle all at once.”
Paul, who was called an “angel” by his mother, was said to have been inseparable from Parfait.
“Krissy and Paulie. Like they just seemed like they belonged together I will miss both of yall,” Letha’s son, CJ, wrote. “No matter what Krissy was still family, she sat with us for thanksgiving, Christmas, whatever the case was she sat at the table with us.. Krissy I promise we won’t forget about you neither.”
Officials didn’t reveal what time Solet allegedly began his stabbing rampage, but are asking residents for home security footage between Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. that could help with the murder investigation.
Solet was booked into the Terrebonne Parish Criminal Justice Complex, where he is being held without bond.
The quadruple murder suspect had faced arrests in two previous stabbings in Houma, including another killing.
He was first charged in January 2019 for the stabbing death of homeless man Kemple Paul Scott Lovell, who was found dead with several stab wounds in Houma.
A grand jury declined to indict him because of a lack of evidence.
Solet was arrested months later in December 2019 and charged with attempted murder after a woman was found lying in a pool of blood in a motel room.
Cindy Boudreaux, 59, was found inside a room of the motel gasping, “don’t let me die,” as paramedics tended to her, the Houma Courier reported.
She accused Solet of attacking her with a wine bottle before stabbing her numerous times.
Prosecutors pointed to security camera footage and Solet’s DNA being found inside the hotel room as evidence he committed the attack, but the man was found not guilty in November 2023.
