Mother of 2-year-old victim of murder-suicide in Keithville speaks out

KEITHVILLE, La. (KSLA) - The mother of a 2-year-old girl who was killed in a murder-suicide incident that left three others dead as well is speaking out about what happened.

On Monday, May 5, the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office was called out to a home on Mustang Circle in Keithville to do a welfare check. When they got there, a man inside the home refused to communicate with them. Then, police heard a gunshot. Once they got inside the home, they discovered four bodies. All of them were dead from gunshot wounds.

A couple of days later, the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office identified the four people as:

• Leroy Sadler, 60
• Judy Sadler, 64
• James Sadler, 29
• Adalynn Mae Sadler, 2

The deaths of Judy, James, and Adalynn mark the 13th, 14th, and 15th homicides in Caddo Parish this year, the coroner’s office reports.

On Thursday, May 8, KSLA spoke with Adalynn’s mother, Kara, and her cousin, Morgan McCarty. She says the entire family is in shock about what happened. Hanning started by thanking everyone for the love and support she has received since Monday.

“With all my heart, I’m thanking everybody for that,” Hanning said.

Hanning says on Monday morning when the incident happened, she was at work. She says several friends reached out to her that morning asking if she and Adalynn were okay because they had seen something happened on Mustang Circle. She says initially she was confused and immediately messaged Adalynn’s babysitter to see if she’d been dropped off yet. The babysitter said she hadn’t, so Hanning called Adalynn’s dad, James. He didn’t answer.

Then she called James’ father, Leroy, and he didn’t answer either. She texted all three of them and nobody answered. Then, she says she got on Facebook and saw pictures of Leroy and Judy’s home and James’ work truck. At that point, she left work and drove to the house. That’s when she was approached by detectives. She asked if her baby was okay.

“And they just looked at me with the most saddest expression and I lost it, I did, because I don’t think anybody would want to lose their baby like that,” Hanning said.

Hanning says she wouldn’t wish this experience on anybody. She says Adalynn was sweet, sassy, and her favorite word was “no.” Adalynn loved playing with bubbles too, and loved to be outdoors and play in water, her mom says.

KSLA asked Hanning if anything led her to believe that something was going on with Adalynn’s grandfather. She says he loved Adalynn so much and she doesn’t know what possibly could’ve led to this happening.

“I feel terrible because I wish he would’ve asked for help for whatever he was going through, and I dunno what pain he must’ve been going through,” Hanning said.

Hanning says Leroy had just recently lost his stepdaughter, Jody, to cancer about six or seven months ago. She says she knows that took a toll on Leroy and Judy. Hanning says Judy was also sick. She believes stress may have been a contributing factor to what happened.

Hanning encourages everyone to love their loved ones and reach out to them and tell them you love them to potentially prevent things like this from happening.

“Tell your loved ones you love them,” Hanning said.

Funeral arrangements for Adalynn have been made, Hanning says, but they’re choosing to only invite close family and friends.

McCarty says when she heard the news, she knew she had to be there to support her cousin, Kara. She’s been helping with administrative issues since Adalynn’s death to help Kara.

“It’s been a nightmare, but we’re all together and we’re all trying to be as supportive as possible,” McCarty said. “Kara has been so incredibly strong.”

McCarty asked that nobody be vilified in this story, but to instead tell the story and shed light on the mental health aspect of it in order to help others who may be struggling.

“I can’t hate him. I will never be able to hate him. I forgive him for his actions. I wish it never happened, but I have no hate in my heart for that man,” Hanning said.