In the spring of 2014, the life of 40-year-old Dewona Wright Green, a female resident of Gonzales, Louisiana, came to a tragic and violent end. The days leading up to her death were marked by a palpable sense of fear and escalating turmoil within her marriage. She had recently filed for divorce from her husband, Ronald Green Sr., and had sought legal protection from him on multiple occasions, citing a pattern of physical and emotional abuse.
Her pleas for help painted a grim picture of a relationship defined by control and violence, with allegations that he would hit, kick, and choke her. Just days before the fatal incident, she had obtained a temporary restraining order against him.
In the early morning hours of April 17, 2014, the situation reached its devastating climax. Authorities were first alerted to the unfolding tragedy when a friend of Ronald Green Sr. contacted the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office with an alarming message: Ronald had called, confessed to killing his wife and 12-year-old son, Ronald Jr., and stated his intention to jump off the Mississippi River Bridge. When Ascension Parish sheriff's deputies arrived at the Green family's home, they found the glass of the front door shattered. Inside, a horrific scene awaited them in one of the bedrooms; Dewona Wright Green and her young son were found shot to death. The discovery confirmed the chilling confession and launched an immediate search for the suspected killer.
The investigation quickly centered on Ronald Green Sr. as the sole suspect. His car was discovered abandoned and still running on the Veterans Memorial Bridge, lending credence to his stated plan of taking his own life. Law enforcement agencies initiated a comprehensive search of the Mississippi River, deploying boats and helicopters in an effort to locate him. While investigators believed it was likely he had jumped, they pursued the case under the assumption that he could still be alive, and a warrant was issued for his arrest on two counts of first-degree murder and for violating the protective order his wife had secured against him. For nearly a year, the question of his ultimate fate remained unanswered, leaving a painful void for the grieving family and community.
The final chapter of this tragic story came to a close in March of 2015. A body was discovered in the Mississippi River near LaPlace, and through the use of dental records, it was positively identified as Ronald Green Sr. The recovery of his remains brought a somber conclusion to the extensive search and confirmed that the horrific events of that April morning were the result of a murder-suicide, perpetrated by a husband and father who chose to end the lives of his family before ending his own. The case was then closed, leaving behind a legacy of domestic violence that ended in the most heartbreaking way imaginable.
