Kenner, Louisiana cops say they have made an arrest in a cold case double murder that was reopened after the Netflix TV show "Unsolved Mysteries" began asking questions.
The homicides happened in 2010. A mother and father were found shot to death in a crashed car with a toddler alive in the vehicle with the bodies.
They were discovered in the 700 block of Farrar Street. That is the same block where another murdered man and woman had lived before their bodies were found in Lake Ponchartrain.
"Kenner Police arrested Dernell Nelson, 35, LaPlace, for two counts of First-Degree Murder for the 2010 Kenner murders of Hermania Ellsworth and Charles Davis," Lieutenant Michael Cunningham said in a news release.
He says the killings occurred on June 17, 2010.
"Kenner Police responded to a report of gunfire that occurred in the 700 block of Farrar Street, Kenner. Arriving Officers found a vehicle driven by Hermania Ellsworth, crashed into a tree. Both Ellsworth and the passenger, Charles Davis, were found shot multiple times and pronounced deceased on scene. A three-year child was found in the backseat injured from the crash. The child was the son of Ellsworth and Davis and was not injured by gunfire."
Less than a month later two more bodies were discovered. Both of those victims had lived in the 700 block of Farrar Street.
Cunningham says, "On July 9, 2010, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office discovered the bodies of Herbert Glass and Lynette Williams, floating in Lake Ponchartrain. Glass and Williams were married and resided in the 700 block of Farrar Street. Both victims were found to have sustained gunshot wounds and were bound by duct tape."
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Detectives thought the murders were all connected, but the cases went cold until receiving an inquiry by producers working on the Netflix series "Unsolved Mysteries."
"Kenner Police re-opened the investigation in March of 2021, after receiving an inquiry by the television documentary series Unsolved Mysteries. Cold Case Homicide Detective Nick Engler was assigned the case, began reviewing investigative reports, lab results, phone records and witness statements."
It was then that Engler was able to develop DNA evidence and further information to support an arrest warrant.
Cunningham says they still believed that both homicide cases are related and Detective Engler has been in contact with St. Tammany Parish investigators.
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It was reported in 2010 that Glass and Williams had been publicly boasting that they had come into some money through inheritance shortly before the murders.
"This is now a very active investigation after laying dormant for years. Additional arrest are expected. Anyone having any information are asked to contact the Kenner Police at (504) 712-2222 or Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111."
After originating on NBC in 1987, Netflix rebooted "Unsolved Mysteries" in 2020.
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