Eunice Mom Takes the Lives of Her Daughters Before Taking Her Own

In a press conference held today at Eunice City Hall, State Fire Marshal H. “Butch” Browning, Jr. and Eunice Police Chief Randy Fontenot laid out the tragic details surrounding the deaths of a Eunice mother and her two daughters.
In what investigators have determined to be a murder-suicide, Carla Watford, 39, apparently shot her daughters, Julia Watford, 16, and Jayia Watford, 9, and then started a fire in the home before taking her own life. The bodies of the three were recovered by investigators after Eunice firefighters located the victims on a bed in the master bedroom of the home, located at 750 S. 4th Street.
Firefighters responded to the residential structure fire shortly after midnight, Sunday, and upon their arrival the home was largely engulfed in flames. Upon making entry, firefighters discovered the gruesome scene during search and rescue efforts.
While combing through the burned rubble of the home, investigators were able to establish that the fire originated within the interior of the structure near the master bedroom. Investigators recovered evidence of accelerants in the bedroom, which serves to confirm that Carla Watford intentionally started the fire after killing her two children.
All recovered evidence, including a note believed to have been written by Carla Watford, will be examined by the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab in Baton Rouge.
Autopsies are scheduled to be conducted on Wednesday.