Nadia Braxton

Case record: Nadia Braxton

Background

Nadia Braxton was 29 years old and lived in their Kenner home with her three daughters. She mostly stayed home caring for her three daughters. Her mother, Nadine Sandifer, talked with Braxton almost daily, and she said she did not know her daughter felt so hopeless, adding: “I wish I could have helped her.” She said: “She was hurting so bad. I didn't know the extent of all she was going through.”

Braxton’s longtime companion, Ronald Peters, was the father of their children. Ronald Peters arrived home from work after being away since 6 a.m., calling out to his family and receiving no response before he went upstairs and found all four bodies in a bed, with Braxton’s body lying across those of the children.

Braxton had previously attended Elysian Fields Avenue Baptist Church. Kenneth Taylor, a former pastor, said he had baptized her when she was a teen-ager. He said she regularly attended Sunday school and worship services and that after Kayla’s birth she faithfully took the girl with her to church. He described Braxton as “a very nice, quiet person and was a joy, even as a child, just a joy to have at church. Her family was a lovely family,” and said she stopped attending after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 destroyed the church’s property and forced it to relocate. Taylor said she might have visited once since, but he had no real contact with her after the storm. He said that sometime last week Braxton sent an e-mail indicating she was distressed and in need of someone to talk, but that it did not seem urgent and “certainly nothing to indicate she was on the verge of taking her own life.”

Braxton was on the verge of losing the family house to foreclosure. Police chief Steve Caraway said Braxton felt “hopeless, full of anxiety” and “didn't know what to do” and “needed God to tell her whether she belongs here.”

On July 22, 2005, Braxton bought the house for $110,000 on July 22, 2005, barely a month before Hurricane Katrina struck, according to real estate records. She and Peters obtained a Road Home grant in 2007 and mortgaged the property for $119,500, according to the records. Court records showed the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office seized the couple’s home twice at the request of their mortgage company, and they seemed to indicate the property was sold at auction.

Braxton took classes at the University of New Orleans in hopes of someday working at a pharmacy.

The offence

Police found Braxton, her companion Ronald Peters, and three daughters dead in the family home. Police suspected Braxton killed all three children and then took her own life.

The victims were identified as:

• Kayla Peters, 12
• Nayah Peters, 1 1/2
• Nyla Peters, 6 months

Police said Braxton shot the children and herself. Police chief Steve Caraway said police suspected Braxton “already shot 12-year-old Kayla Peters twice in the back of the head” and “Nayah Peters, 23 months, and Nyla, 6 months, once each in the forehead.” Police said all three were laid out on Kayla’s bed in the family home at 3821 E. Louisiana State University Drive. Caraway said Braxton, with “a gunshot wound to her own forehead,” fell on Kayla’s body.

In a separate account, Caraway said Braxton and the two younger children were shot in the forehead, and that because the bodies had not yet been moved, “the location of Kayla's wounds was not immediately known.”

In another description of wounds, it was stated that everyone except 12-year-old Nyla was shot in the forehead, and that Nyla was killed with two bullets to the back of the head. Police said due to where the gun was found and gunpowder residue on Nadia’s hands, they were “almost certain she was the killer.” Police also thought it happened just an hour or two before Ronald arrived home from work around suppertime.

A semiautomatic pistol was lying nearby. Police said investigators would check Braxton’s hands for powder burns. A gun was described as lying at the foot of the bed, and it was said police believed Braxton bought the gun years ago. The companion Ronald Peters found the bodies after arriving home and discovering the pistol lying near the bed.

Investigation

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office investigations concluded the woman took her children’s lives and then took her own due to growing depression. Caraway said police “don't know what led to Braxton's state of mind.” He said: “This was internal demons or battles she was fighting that she just couldn't overcome.”

Police were called about 5:30 p.m. to 3821 East Louisiana State Drive. Police said preliminary indications were that the woman killed the children, then herself. Caraway asked: “What causes that? What leads somebody to do that?”

Police were satisfied that Braxton took her children’s lives and then her own because of growing depression.

Arrest

No arrest was mentioned.

Trial

No trial was mentioned.

Sentencing

No sentencing was mentioned.

Appeals

No appeals were mentioned.

Outcome

Braxton died by suicide by shooting herself the same day as she killed her three children.

A gun was left at the foot of the bed, and investigators planned to check Braxton’s hands for powder burns.

Aftermath

Neighbors were described as not having heard arguing or receiving domestic calls from the family. Neighbor George Windstein said: “They were good kids. You never heard nothing from them. There was never any riff raff around there, nothing disruptive.”

Neighbors Ernest and Doris Stewart said the man who found the bodies lived in the same house with his mother before she died. Doris Stewart said: “never been a disturbance.” Ernest Stewart said he recalled regularly seeing the woman take the older child to school and that the man was outside most every weekend washing his sport utility vehicle.

Ronald Peters’ grandmother, Edora Myles, said Ronald told her he, too, did not realize Braxton was distraught. Myles said: “He told me that he, too, didn't realize Braxton was distraught,” and added: “He said she didn't seem depressed to him.” She said: “He didn't understand how he didn't see it.”

Caraway said officers concluded Braxton’s actions were connected to depression and the family’s foreclosure pressures.

Other details

Braxton was described as emailing Kenneth Taylor of Elysian Fields Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans last week. Caraway said she needed God to tell her whether she belongs here. Taylor responded by email with prayers, recommendations of comforting Scripture readings, and an invitation to call him. Taylor said: “I tried back Tuesday about 4 o'clock.” He said: “There was no answer.” He had been busy with more than 60 children in the church's day camp.

Court record details included a mortgage lawsuit chronology:

• On Jan. 12, 2010, Nationstar Mortgage LLC sued the couple in 24th Judicial District Court in Gretna, saying they hadn’t paid the note since September 2009 and that they owed $117,419.
• On March 10, 2010, the mortgage company moved to dismiss the case, saying the loan payments had been brought up to date.
• On Nov. 3, Nationstar again sued, saying the couple owed $126,639 and hadn't paid anything since April.
• The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office seized the property again on Dec. 15.
• On the same day as the killings, an attorney for the mortgage company sought a court order to have the Sheriff's Office evict everyone from the house.