A young Louisiana girl has been found dead with her body stuffed into a chlorine bucket left on her mother’s front yard.
Bella Fontenelle, six, was dumped outside her mother’s home in Harahan – and now chilling surveillance video shows a woman casually dragging a cart with the plastic bucket on it toward the house on the night of April 25.
The woman in the clip wore high white boots, a red top and black pants.
Jefferson Parish officials now believe Hannah Landon, 43, the longtime girlfriend of the girl’s father, killed six-year-old Bella in the house she shared with the girl’s father in Harahan.
She then reportedly placed the body in the 10-gallon chlorine bucket and covered it with a lid, which she placed on a wagon intended for a child and which she pulled a block away to Bella’s mother’s house, where it was next day was found.
Landon – who is also credited by Bunnak Lim and Bunnak Landon – has since been arrested on charges of first degree murder and obstruction of justice in Bella’s death, and is being held without bail.
Hannah Landon, 43, has been arrested on suspicion of murdering her boyfriend’s six-year-old daughter, stuffing her body into a chlorine bucket and dumping it at the girl’s mother’s house
Bella Fontenelle, 6, was a preschooler at St. Matthew the Apostle Catholic School in River Ridge. Her death has been ruled a homicide
Security footage captured a woman – believed to be Landon – pulling the bucket on a wagon meant for a child on the night of April 25
Authorities say Bella’s father reported his girlfriend and youngest daughter missing around 7:30 a.m. on April 26, prompting a missing persons investigation.
At some point during the search, Harahan police decided to search Bella’s mother’s property less than two blocks away, where they found the bucket with the body inside.
An autopsy later confirmed that Bella, a kindergarten teacher at St. Matthew the Apostle Catholic School in River Ridge, had been killed with reportedly “multiple injuries.”
Coroner Gerry Cvitanovich said the cause of death was “manual strangulation, with blunt force trauma to the head,” FOX 8 reports.
During the ensuing investigation, sheriff’s deputies spoke to friends and neighbors and eventually discovered that Ken Livaudais’ Ring camera caught a woman dragging a truck with the plastic bucket on it down the road around 9:35 p.m. Tuesday night.
“Knowing she put a little baby in a bucket makes you physically sick,” he said NOLA. com.
After allegedly dumping the body, authorities say, Landon entered a police station and requested transportation to a local hospital.
She was subsequently located and arrested at the hospital the next day.
Harahan police are here investigating the house in Harahan, Louisiana that Landon shared with Bella’s father
Authorities say Bella’s father called the police station on April 26 to report his youngest daughter and girlfriend were missing
A motive for the murder remains unclear, but police records and divorce papers indicate that Landon and Bella’s mother have had physical altercations in the past.
In 2021, the two women got into a physical fight during a swimming competition for one of the daughters, and the father had to intervene.
Police records obtained by NOLA.com show that Bella’s mother called the police and told officers that Landon had tried to stop another family member from hugging her daughter.
She said Landon slapped her hand away, grabbed her by the hair and started attacking her.
Bella’s mother had scratches on her face and hand, records show.
The report also says that Landon was “extremely uncooperative” before accusing Bella’s mother of attacking her first.
In the aftermath, Landon obtained a municipal subpoena from Harahan for simple battery, and she filed a restraining order against Bella’s mother, which was later denied.
Several months later, FOX 8 reports, the two women got into another physical altercation during one of the daughters’ soccer games.
However, authorities say they do not believe Bella’s mother or father were involved in her death.
Neighbors and friends have described Bella as a sweet little girl who was extremely kind
Police Chief Ed Lepre says his office is working on justice for the little girl
Neighbors and friends have described Bella as a sweet little girl who was extremely kind.
“She was the first to come up to you and smile and giggle,” said a neighbor.
He and others said Bella could often be seen riding her bike to the nearby shore or playing with her 7-year-old sister.
Now police chief Ed Lepre says his office is working to get justice for the little girl.
“We’re going to work to the end to make sure we get a conviction,” he told FOX 8.
“This is a little baby and any family would be devastated,” he added. “I can only imagine what the mother and father are going through right now.”