On a tragic January morning in 2019, the life of 20-year-old Summer Yvette Ernest was cut short in a brutal act of violence that also claimed the lives of her father and brother. The young female's death was part of a horrific killing spree that spanned two Louisiana parishes and left five people dead. The man responsible, Dakota Theriot, was the victim's boyfriend and had been living with her family for a couple of weeks prior to the incident.
The violence erupted on January 26, 2019,
at the Ernest family home on Courtney Road in Livingston Parish. Theriot, then 21, fatally shot Summer, her 43-year-old father, Billy Ernest, and her 17-year-old brother, Tanner Ernest. Two younger children present in the home were physically unharmed; they managed to escape to a neighbor's house and report the horrific events that had unfolded. Theriot then fled the scene in Billy Ernest's pickup truck.
After leaving the Ernest residence, Theriot drove to his parents' home in Gonzales, located in the neighboring Ascension Parish. There, he continued his violent rampage, shooting and killing his 50-year-old father, Keith Theriot, and his 50-year-old mother, Elizabeth Theriot. Before succumbing to his injuries, Keith Theriot was able to identify his son as the shooter to law enforcement.
A manhunt for Dakota Theriot was immediately launched, and he was apprehended the following day in Richmond County, Virginia, at his grandmother's house. He was subsequently extradited back to Louisiana to face charges for the murders. In January 2023, Theriot pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree murder. In a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, he was sentenced to five concurrent life sentences without the possibility of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The motive for the killings was reported to be related to a domestic dispute between Theriot and Summer Ernest, with authorities indicating he had been asked to leave the Ernest home shortly before the shootings.
