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A 43-year-old woman, Hannah Landon was arrested on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, for allegedly killing her boyfriend's daughter Bella Fontenelle in Harahan, Louisiana. A press release from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office stated that when Bella's father woke up on Wednesday, he couldn't find Bella and Hannah. He went to the local police station to report Bella Fontenelle missing.
Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of the murder and brutal death of a child. Discretion is advised.
According to a report in People, Bella's remains were found intact and not dismembered in a bucket placed outside her biological mother's house. The remains were found nearly an hour after the six-year-old was reported missing. According to Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office, Bella was beaten up before being strangled to death.
Hannah Landon was arrested on the same day for the murder of six-year-old Bella Fontenelle. Law enforcement officials also found another male child in the house who was unharmed.
Bella Fontenelle was allegedly killed by her father's girlfriend
As mentioned earlier, police made the gruesome discovery on April 26, 2023, at a house in Harahan, which is nearly 10 miles west of New Orleans.
A press release by authorities said that they found Bella Fontenelle's remains inside a huge plastic bucket outside her biological mother's house. It added that the six-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.
Law enforcement agencies, including the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and the agency’s Major Crimes Task Force, were involved in the investigation of Bella Fontenelle’s death. After a thorough investigation, officers recovered some Ring doorbell surveillance footage. Footage from the previous night showed Landon pulling a wagon with a bucket down Donelon and Sedgefield drives of Harahan.
The unsettling footage showed Hannah Landon at around 9:33 pm local time as she walked down the street with the wagon. The 43-year-old is seen making no effort to hide the bucket or the child's body as vehicles move around her.
Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said that they believe Bella was killed at her father's house before being transported to her mother's house in the wagon.
The six-year-old was allegedly strangled by Hannah Landon
As mentioned earlier, an autopsy report revealed that Bella Fontenelle was beaten up and strangled. Coroner Gerry Cvitanovich added that Bella had sustained multiple injuries prior to her death.
The coroner said that he wanted to clarify that the child's body was intact and not dismembered. He added:
“This is not something we're happy to do. It's something that's hard to see and it's even more hard to unsee.”
After questioning the child’s biological parents, police came to the conclusion that neither of them believed that the other was responsible for the child's death.
Landon was suspected of murder after police saw the Ring doorbell camera footage. Law enforcement officials obtained an arrest warrant for Hannah Landon and arrested her on suspicion of first-degree murder and obstruction on Wednesday.
Landon was sent to the hospital for evaluation, and once discharged, she will be booked into the Jefferson Parish Correction Center.
