A 45-year-old woman in Louisiana is set to stand trial for the brutal murder of her boyfriend’s 6-year-old daughter, Bella Fontenelle.
The Louisiana Supreme Court on Tuesday denied Bunnak Landon’s request to overturn a lower court ruling that declared her mentally fit to stand trial for the 2023 crime, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime.
The state’s high court ruled 6-1 against Landon’s appeal, with Justice Jay B. Hughes being the only dissenter.
Landon was indicted last year on charges of first-degree murder and obstruction of justice, which she initially pleaded not guilty but later attempted to change her plea to not guilty by reason of insanity.
In May 2024, Jefferson Parish District Judge Nancy Miller had ruled Landon incompetent to stand trial based on testimony from two doctors. However, after a more thorough evaluation, Miller reversed her decision two months later.
Landon then appealed the ruling to the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal and the state Supreme Court, both of which refused to overturn the lower court’s decision. This clears the way for Landon’s trial, scheduled to begin on April 28.
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On April 26, 2023, Bella’s father woke up to find both his daughter and his girlfriend, Landon, missing from his home in Harahan, a suburb about 10 miles west of New Orleans. At around 7:30 a.m., he reported them missing to the Harahan Police Department.
Approximately 15 minutes later, officers arrived at his home to investigate. By 8:20 a.m., they had expanded the search to the residence of Bella’s biological mother, located just two blocks away.
It was there, in the front yard of Bella’s mother’s home, that officers made a horrifying discovery—a large plastic bucket containing the child’s remains. Bella was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities determined that Bella had been beaten and strangled to death.
Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office investigators quickly identified Landon as the primary suspect. Surveillance footage obtained from neighbors’ Ring doorbell cameras showed her walking down Donelon and Sedgefield Drives around 9:33 p.m. the night before, pulling a wagon with the plastic bucket inside.
In the chilling footage, Landon appears unfazed as she pulls the wagon, even as a white minivan passes by. Authorities believe Bella was killed at her father’s house before Landon transported the body to the mother’s home.
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After an extensive investigation and interviews with Bella’s parents, authorities confirmed that neither parent was involved in the child’s death.
While police were searching for Landon, detectives learned that she had checked herself into a local hospital around 2 p.m. the day after the murder. She had earlier walked into the Harahan Police Department shortly after midnight and was later transported to the hospital for evaluation.
Upon her discharge, Landon was arrested and booked into the Jefferson Parish Jail. With the Louisiana Supreme Court’s latest decision, Landon’s trial will move forward as scheduled.
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