A young beautician tragically lost her life in a suspected murder-suicide carried out by her former husband, amidst an intense custody dispute over their children, authorities report.
Meridian Thomas Woodson, a 28-year-old mother with 23 siblings, was discovered deceased in her Elmwood, Louisiana apartment. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office responded to a disturbance call and made the grim discovery on Thursday.
Nearby, officers located the “suspect vehicle” in a parking lot, where they found Kody Woodson, 30, Meridian’s muscular ex-husband, with a gunshot wound that appeared to be self-inflicted, according to the sheriff.
Kody was quickly transported to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries shortly after.
The couple had been embroiled in a custody conflict over their daughters, Paisley, 4, and Lileigh, 7, with a court hearing set for June 18, as revealed by court documents accessed by WDSU.
Their contentious legal battle stretched over several years, during which Meridian had accused Kody of domestic abuse and threatening her with a firearm, as documented in legal records.
Meridian claimed that Kody had physically attacked her after she told him she wanted a divorce in January 2024, court records show.
A few weeks later, he reportedly “grabbed her phone from her hand [and] grabbed her by the arm and threw her to the ground,” after flying into a “jealous rage,” Meridian wrote in her divorce petition.
In a separate incident, Meridian claimed she heard “the distinctive sound of a gun being cocked,” before finding Kody with a gun inside the apartment, records show.
Kody reportedly told Meridian, “You’re making me hurt you, you always make me hurt you,” during a separate argument, according to the filing.
The former husband denied many of the allegations and accused Meridian of violent behavior in his own court filing.
He said Meridian had a history of “choking, slapping, scratching, [and] biting” him in his answer and counterclaim.
Kody referenced an incident on Feb. 27, 2024, when Meridian was arrested over a violent argument in front of their two children.
Meridian claimed she was acting in self-defense and said Kody’s evidence to the police was taken out of context, her court filing shows.
“Meridian was a light in everyone’s life,” an online fundraiser reads, adding that she was “a second mom to many of her 23 siblings.”
The investigation remains ongoing, the sheriff’s office said.
