Sheriff Joseph Lopinto announces the arrest of Terrance Leonard, 33, of Gretna in reference to yesterday's multiple homicide incident at 932 West Monterey Court in Gretna. Leonard has been booked with three counts of first degree murder, two counts of attempted first degree murder, and one count of obstruction of justice. Leonard was detained at the scene yesterday, and was identified as a suspect as the investigation progressed throughout the day. Yesterday evening, Leonard admitted to attacking the child victims as they slept, then lying in wait for Kristina Riley until she came home. All of the child victims suffered serious head trauma. Leonard eventually led our investigators to the hammer he used to attack the victims. The obstruction of justice charge is related to Leonard's efforts to destroy evidence inside the residence where the incident occurred.
"The evidence that we received from the confession of Terrence Leonard (33) but also the physical evidence that was on the scene that the children were killed most presumably in their sleep while they laid in bed with a hammer," Lopinto said.
Lopinto called it a gruesome scene.
"We've got 3 people (dead) and 2 are still in very critical condition of them and may end up increasing, at a very young age, and look this person should never see the light of day and the first chance that he gets to be off of this earth, I'm okay with that," Lopinto noted.
Leonard has been identified as the boyfriend of the adult female victim, Kristina Riley, 32, of Gretna. The other decedents have been identified as Ayden Riley, 10 (son of Kristina Riley), and De'ryona Encalade, 9 (niece of Kristina Riley). The two surviving victims have been identified as Kristina Riley's daughters, 14 and 12 years old. They remain in critical condition at local hospitals.Leonard has an extensive criminal history that includes arrests for narcotics possession and distribution, second degree battery, simple battery, and multiple offenses against law enforcement.